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The Abduction of Zack Butterfield

Play trailer Poster for The Abduction of Zack Butterfield Released May 27, 2011 1h 31m Crime Drama Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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0% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 45% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
A sexual psychopath (Brett Helsham) kidnaps a 14-year-old boy (TJ Plunkett) and develops a bizarre relationship with him.

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The Abduction of Zack Butterfield

Critics Reviews

View All (8) Critics Reviews
Sheri Linden Los Angeles Times Subscribing to the philosophy that creepy equals interesting, the film contains barely a moment that isn't flat-footed, ludicrous or both. Rated: 1/5 May 27, 2011 Full Review Kyle Smith New York Post If Ed Wood had directed "The Silence of the Lambs," it might have been as unin tentionally hilarious as the goofball would-be thriller "The Abduction of Zack Butterfield." Rated: 0/4 May 27, 2011 Full Review Jeannette Catsoulis New York Times A cringingly awkward tale of sexual predation and female lunacy. Rated: 1/5 May 26, 2011 Full Review Brent Simon Shockya.com A terrible, muddled and ultimately yawning psychosexual kidnap drama. So inept and risible that it makes the case there should be some sort of creative gatekeeper, even for indie cinematic efforts. Rated: D- May 27, 2011 Full Review Eric Monder Film Journal International Kidnapping thriller isn't quite "so bad, it's good," more like "so bad, it's okay." May 27, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (8) audience reviews
Audience Member Made during the reign of G W Bush (the wannabe 18th century Puritan), the movie has no actors only people reading the script aloud. The one seen where the strangely unattractive teenage boy's bare but is seen was deleted from the movie. Shot in 3 days, I guess they were satisfied with the first take for every scene. Basically a horny middle age woman kidnaps a well endowed teenager and trains him to be her sex slave. Great premise but the movie falls way short of making would could a truly outrageous film. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member I love a bad movie and ZACK delivers! Amazingly awful but truly sublime as only a really bad movie can be. Saw this right after THE TREE OF LIFE, a far better but disappointing film that could never deliver in the way ZACK does. Far worse than your average student film, never as good as a bad SVU episode, but in this world of mediocrity at the movies, bad cinematic experiences deserved a revered place on the mantle. Bravo to THE ABDUCTION OF ZACK BUTTERFIELD! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Damn! This never happened to me when I was 14. Deutchland, Deutchland uber alles. Blonde, bad and beautiful - what's not to like? Good thing I didn't read the reviews until after I saw the movie. I would have missed a great film. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member As a woman (and a feminist,) I find the Abduction of Zach Butterfield a brave attempt at exposing the taboo subject of a woman as sexual predator. This topic was dealt with unflinchingly in this audacious effort by an obviously neophyte director. The actors did a great job at portraying their characters and the cinematographer did an excellent job of framing the beauty of the Hudson Valley. Brett Helsham did an amazing job of portraying the bi-polar and PTSD haunted personality of the protagonist, April. TJ Plunkett as Zack was superb. But I related most to the heart-wrenching scenes of Lisa Gunn as the bewildered mother waiting for her son to return home. This is a very emotional and dramatic film; I immediately hated April and loved Zack. The bathroom scene was my favorite. It was exciting to watch Zack plot his escape. I'll have to watch this thriller at least five more times for a proper critique. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Glory, Glory, Hallelujah! - You've got one melodious sick chick here - the hallway scene gave me goosebumps. Worth seeing, a talented duo. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Audience Member Nothin goin' for it. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Abduction of Zack Butterfield

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Movie Info

Synopsis A sexual psychopath (Brett Helsham) kidnaps a 14-year-old boy (TJ Plunkett) and develops a bizarre relationship with him.
Director
Rick Lancaster
Producer
Stephen M. Ryder
Screenwriter
Rick Lancaster, Stephen M. Ryder
Distributor
Thunder Hill Pictures
Genre
Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 27, 2011, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 17, 2017
Runtime
1h 31m
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