Axed

I recently had great fortune to watch 'Axed' at a local film festival. This psychological thriller was greatly received and I can see why.

I am so pleased to have finally seen a film in recent years that I did NOT know the ending to. The genuine twists and turns kept me intrigued throughout the film, the Homage to classical horror films is clear and well done. The relationship between the unhinged father and his children is superbly acted (ignoring some over acting from the lead actor at times), I would highly recommend watching more from this particular cast.

It was not the gore fest I was expected, the director, quite rightly, left a lot to your own imagination, which in my experience makes the film much scarier.

The DOP should be highly congratulated on their skills in presenting this film so well, despite some shots that felt as though they should have been lightened; the use of natural light was cleverly done.

I even found out afterwards that some of this film used C.G.I. and green screen to enhance some shots, which was fabulous, as it was done in such a way that people were completely unaware, which is more than I can say for most low budget horror films being reviewed recently.

The only thing I would say is that It almost needed to be longer to build the father's mental break down to make it more intense in the cottage scenes when he finally snaps.

Despite some of the sound quality being poor in parts and minimal continuity errors I would highly recommend watching this as a good example of how a good low budget film can be made.

At first I thought this movie was in another language and dubbed in English, nope. The movie was made in the UK, but the sound seems to have been made after the movie… It's somewhat distracting. Once you get over the bad sound timing, then you have to deal with the boring acting and dialog. Even when the movie starts to pick up, you aren't really interested. Its weird because the idea is pretty creepy, but unfortunately this movie can't deliver the scary. Most of the scenes were just weird and the gory parts felt like a really bad 80's movie slasher. I really hate giving negative reviews on low budget movies, but this one was just not very entertaining.

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I gave this film a go and was so disappointed. The acting is so bad it's cringe-worthy. You just can't settle into the story and take it seriously. It is almost like the film was made 20 years ago with some guys they just plucked off the street. Shame, because I like to support British films - but this one sucked. In all respects give give the film a go, but be warned.

P.S. There also seem to be many fake reviews on Amazon giving it 4-5 stars, the accounts only review this one film - sounds like they tried to beef up the ratings because it is so bad. I have no idea what the budget was on this film but it was money down the drain.

"Axed" is an absolute mess. While the premise is somewhat interesting and the film clearly tries to be shocking and impactful, it fails miserably on almost every level. The violence, though both physical and psychologically intense, becomes tedious and repetitive over time, losing any real effect it might have had. What's worse are the characters' decisions - so absurd and senseless that they shatter any attempt at immersion or emotional involvement. Instead of delivering a disturbing thriller, "Axed" ends up being a frustrating, painfully ineffective experience. A good idea wasted by poor execution, incoherent storytelling, and a complete lack of tension or depth.

This is a low budget that's for sure, you can easily spot it on the way it was filmed and the sound that isn't always that good, especially the dubbed sound. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it even as it never became scary or gory. You just want to know how it is going to end.

A very strict father, Kurt Wendell (Jonathan Hansler) can't take it anymore. His wife is having an affair with his boss and he's fired. Not only that, his daughter walks around like a whore and his son looks like a fagot. The day he's fired he goes berserk. But not showing it he takes his family to the countryside for a nice day with dad. From there the horror comes in.

The red stuff is available but most of the stabbing or axing is done off-screen. There's a lot of talking going on from dad explaining what he knows about the affair. And a lot of talking with his children. But somehow you want to know who survives and who will die. There's of course a lot of drama in it.

The acting did add this flick to a higher level, Jonathan Hansler was believable. But I can understand that some will not like this flick because it's a bit low on the horror. Ideal for a starter.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5