Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1982)

Night Warning (originally titled Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker) is a 1982 American exploitation horror film directed by William Asher, and starring Susan Tyrrell, Jimmy McNichol, and Julia Duffy. Framed as a contemporary Oedipus tale, the plot focuses on a teenager who, raised by his neurotic aunt, finds himself at the center of a murder investigation after she stabs a man to death in their house. The boy's sexually-repressed aunt secretly harbors incestual feelings for him, while meanwhile a homophobic detective investigating the crime irrationally believes the murder to be a result of a homosexual love triangle.

The film was nominated for a Saturn Award for the Best Horror Movie of 1982 by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, and also marked one of Bill Paxton's earliest roles.

Synopsis

Billy Lynch (Jimmy McNichol) is a high school student who has been raised by his aunt since age three, after his parents died in a violent car accident. His Aunt Cheryl (Susan Tyrrell) is overly protective of her nephew. A gifted basketball player, Billy is offered a chance at a scholarship to attend the University of Colorado, but Cheryl dismisses the idea, assuming that Billy will stay with her to "contribute." At school, Billy is bullied by one of his basketball teammates, Eddie (Bill Paxton), who is jealous of Billy's close friendship with their coach, Tom Landers (Steve Eastin), while Julia (Julia Duffy), the school's journalism photographer, begins to take romantic interest in Billy.

Actors