BUTCHERED BY SUNDOWN: Cinema Epoch’s Surreal Western Thriller Now Free on YouTube – Movie News

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Directed by Jamie Grefe, starring Hannah Hueston, Jillian Gabby, and Jamie Grefe

Cinema Epoch, the acclaimed distributor and studio behind such cult hits as Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance and Mad Cowgirl, has just dropped its latest production, the surreal western action thriller BUTCHERED BY SUNDOWN, on the Cinema Epoch YouTube Channel free to view. It’s the newest feature from prolific writer-director Jamie Grefe (Blood of La Llorona), and his first foray into westerns.

Through a barren, anachronistic desert containing elements of the past and present, a traumatized widow with a gun (Jillian Gabby, The Love Zone) walks alone. She claims her entire family were murdered by a preacher man (played by Grefe) wielding a Bible and a large axe, but there are no other surviving witnesses, and there’s a price on her head. Is she the real killer, or is the real one still out to get her? Does outlaw bounty hunter Mother Mary (Hannah Hueston, Airplane 2025) care one way or another, as long as she collects the reward?

Shot on location in Palmdale, BUTCHERED BY SUNDOWN came together through a unique collaboration between director Grefe and his actors. Says Grefe, “This movie was done as an unscripted performance piece. I create outlines and communicate purpose ahead of time but when it comes time to shoot, I shoot. The story unfolds organically. It’s like rough theater, and at the end of the day a movie is made. And then I cut it.”

Part of that organic process led to the organic discovery of underlying spiritual themes, according to Grefe, who notes that, “the project became more and more religious in a way as the day unfolded simply because there was a huge Bible in the chapel. It lent itself to the production.” The entire story is framed with a level of Brechtian artifice that makes the omnipotent hand of the filmmaker obvious to the viewer, but not the characters.

“Butchered and in particular, our current series of western films, are all nods to the early days of the matinee at the bijou,” says producer and Cinema Epoch founder Gregory Hatanaka, “where families would go down to the local cinema and for a nickel see prevues of coming attractions, a B-western serial (From Republic Pictures or PRC, usually running 20 minutes) and a main feature.  And sometimes the main feature would be a western itself (running no more than 75 minutes).  With “Butchered,” Jamie Grefe captures the essence of the nostalgic days of movies, when it was all magical and mystifying.”

About Jamie Grefe: A prolific director of over 20 films, and a writer and actor in even more, Jamie Grefe made his feature directing debut for Cinema Epoch with the supernatural thriller Love Hurts. Subsequent movies have included the Spanish-language viral hit Blood of La Llorona, and the Sorority Girl Massacre trilogy – Ritual Examination, Black Static at the Moment of Death, and Guts of Ecstacy. The upcoming The Idaho College Killer will mark his first foray into true crime drama; Butchered by Sundown is his first western. Visit him at: https://jamie-grefe.com

About Cinema Epoch: Founded by veteran distributor Gregory Hatanaka in 2001, Cinema Epoch has become a boutique distribution label for cult classics like the 1959 House on Haunted Hill and 1981’s Private Lessons, as well as the works of acclaimed international directors like Claude Chabrol and Linton Semage, and obscurities like Takashi Miike’s Gozu and Sonny Chiba’s Yellow Fangs. Cinema Epoch continues to bring an eclectic mix of entertainment to new generations of audiences around the world. The company distributes feature films to the theatrical, DVD and digital markets. In addition to presenting genre films to audiences, it also plans to release a slate of international arthouse films under its Cinema Epoch Classics label. Partners include Amazon Video, ITunes, GooglePlay, TubiTV, Hulu, Vudu, Comcast, Showtime, XBox and MVD Visual. The company also produces a slate of original film productions annually; previous originals include Hatanaka’s own Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance, the cult hit starring Matthew Karedas (Samurai Cop) and Tommy Wiseau (The Room); and Mad Cowgirl, starring Sarah Lassez (Nowhere), Walter Koenig (Star Trek), and James Duval (Independence Day, Donnie Darko). Learn more at cinemaepoch.com and watch many Cinema Epoch titles on their Cinema Epoch Official Youtube Channel.

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