Film Review - Beauty Queen Butcher
Starring Tammy PescatellI, Rhona Brody, Jim Boggess | Directed by Jill Rae Zurborg | Camp DVD Unrated FF 1991 118min
Review By Xmortis
A beauty pageant is being held in a small town. Muffy and her band of evil girls are all hyped and in gear to enter. Phyllis is an overweight nerd who is tricked into entering the Pageant. She is so happy and has the backing of her best friend Cameron and her co-workers in the school’s kitchen. Phyllis doesn’t have much in her life but her cat, and this could be a way for her to finally get respect. She heads to the meeting for the contest and meets Betty Prunish, a foul woman who is in charge of the contest and is disgusted by Phyllis and her weight. The meeting is cut short for Phyllis when Cameron enters and tells her that her cat is up a tree and will not come down for the fire department. So off she goes to save her cat. When she is gone, Muffy makes a promise to Betty that they will torment Phyllis until she drops out.
The next scene is a montage of all the girls getting ready for the Beauty Pageant, and all the while Phyllis is stuffing her face. It’s the day of the pageant, and all the girls are super mean to Phyllis who sneaks in her cat. One girl gets really mean when her allergies from the cat flare up. The whole time they treat Phyllis like trash and to no one’s surprise, Muffy takes home the crown. But as Muffy is leaving, she feels the need to really put Phyllis down and to step on her Twinkie! For three days Phyllis hides away from the world until Cameron takes her out for pizza. Muffy and her friends see this and decide to go to Phyllis’s home and murder her cat via the microwave. As they flee Muffy leaves her crown behind. When Phyllis gets home and finds her murdered pet, it’s time for some coldhearted revenge! One by one, starting with Muffy, the beauty queen contestants meet their deaths. All the while Cameron is being blown off by his true love Phyllis. So he decides to go to the police to find the cat killer. After the last contestant leaves town, Phyllis is to be crowned queen until the police show up and arrest her for being The Beauty Queen Butcher. In the end, Phyllis in jail with Muffy’s Grandma, and the inmates give Phyllis a royal ass kicking.
This film could have been so much more. They play it as a horror comedy when it could have been a nice throw back to the 70’s and 80’s slasher films. The humor is nothing more than fat jokes and cross dressers. It’s well directed for this type of camp film, but the audio is poor in some spots and sounds as if they used the microphone on the camera. The DVD cover is nice, but the actress on the front cover does not appear in the film.
The DVD extras are pretty tame with a Behind The Scenes look at the film. The trailers are nothing too grand but at least not bare bones. Overall this could be the worst in Camp’s DVD line up this far. It’s still worth a watch for upcoming filmmakers in the Independent Horror world. I say skip and get Cannibal Campout or Splatter Farm.