Erik Stern earns himself a place in the annals of cult cinema with his deliciously demented performances in this somewhat obscure mid-70s exploitation-horror film. He plays Caleb, physically impaired gardener-for-hire who is dominated by his "brother" Lester, a smooth ladies man. Lester is also a lady killer, and detectives are stumped as to figuring out who is behind the murders. Annoying, schmucky reporter Russell (Jeremiah Beecher), who's somehow scored himself a hot girlfriend, Flo (Kay Neer), gives the detectives a hard time while doing some investigating of his own.
Essentially, Sterns' performances ARE the movie, which is, for the most part, not that distinguished. There's the requisite gore and titillation, but not that much of it. Directors Don Jones and Mikel Angel do get some credit for their canny choice of soundtrack music. There are some familiar exploitation genre faces among the cast, such as Richard Kennedy ("Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS") as a cop and John Parker ("Schoolgirls in Chains") as a minister. Lovely Robin Sherwood ("Tourist Trap", "Death Wish II") is set up as one of a number of potential victims.
Stern, who went on to do a fair amount of TV work, is a fun guy to watch do his thing, especially when he's trying to adopt different ethnic identities. Kennedy is good, and the ladies are all quite attractive. At approximately 85 minutes long, "The Love Butcher" doesn't overstay its welcome, and offers ample entertainment for drive-in movie lovers who want something they don't want to take all that seriously.
Eight out of 10.
