Karl the Butcher vs Axe

After the 1999 triumph that was Violent Sh!t 3 it seemed as though Andreas Schnaas had retired the mighty Karl the Butcher, but eleven years later returned with this film, Schnaas was perhaps invigorated, inspired by the partnership of newer Euro-gore maestro Timo Rose (who edits, co-directs and co-stars as the titular Axe), though sadly he wasn't inspired enough to make this film more than a watchable but ultimately forgettable footnote. The plot has advanced from the first three, this time round we're in post apocalyptic territory. Some unknown catastrophe has destroyed society and the civilised world, leaving only violent territorial gangs who greedily trade resources and kill any trespassers. Into this land come Karl the Butcher, sent up from hell to battle Axe, a potential contender to his butcher throne. Cue lots of bloody fighting and a few uninspired twists. Its interesting that the apocalypse is never mentioned. Some photo-shopped images of ruined monuments in the opening credits locate the viewer post apocalypse but what actually happened is never explained. And the film is set around 2023, with characters mentioning Karl the Butcher having been dead for 25 years (placing the timeline roughly in order with Violent Sh!t 3), indicating that in a mere 25 years or less humanity has collapsed and adjusted not just to the point of forgetting for the majority what caused their collapse but even those few who can remember specifics of what happened before (assuming that Violent Sh!t 3 wasn't sneakily set post apocalypse without mentioning it). Its a nice way of highlighting social decay, as is the way that no characters have proper names or characters, just daft nicknames and gang affiliations. The implication is that in the future there are no individuals, no humanity for itself, just specialised, coded bodies bound to fate. Unfortunately, while interesting alleyways are broached the film does nothing with them. Most disappointing is the combination of Karl the Butcher and Axe. They have a few skirmishes, but nothing really like the full on epic battle that the title seems to promise, and nothing like the satirical potential inherent in the casting. The battle of pioneer Euro-gore maestro with young Turk should be fraught with fun and irony, but things proceed neither in an especially gruesome nor interesting front. Speaking of not especially gruesome, the gore is a bit low by and large. Don't get me wrong, loads of people loose heads, limbs, throats and so on in appropriately bloody fashion, but everythings a lot cleaner and less demented. Its as if Schnaas and Rose were aiming for broader commercial appeal, with pretty decent cinematography for such an effort as well, but the lack of any truly mad nastiness is a definite drawback especially since each of the previous films made definite progress upon the previous in that respect. Here things are more action oriented and get a bit repetitive, especially since the action choreography isn't up to much. The atrocious acting ends up being a drawback too on account of the lacking gore, with a particularly horrid turn from Eilleen Daly standing out. Still, its watchable enough. Fast pace, a few laughs, a big bodycount and lots of blood, its a solid mindless time-waster. Generous 6/10.

Karl the Butcher vs Axe (2010)

* (out of 4)

The fourth film in the series has Karl The Butcher (Andreas Schnaas) going up against a female serial killer (Timo Rose).

KARL THE BUTCHER VS AXE was the fourth film in the VIOLENT $HIT series. I'm going to guess if you liked the first three then you'll probably enjoy this one but, to be honest, I only somewhat liked the second and the rest I really didn't care for. This film here appears to have hard a somewhat larger budget, although shooting digital at least gave the picture a better, more professional look.

There's really nothing "good" going on here outside of the gore but even this has been somewhat pulled back from the previous three films. Yes, there are all sorts of be-headings and various forms of violence but it just doesn't have the same punch. It's at least mildly entertaining and there's no question that the gore is the only real thing going here. The Karl character isn't all that interesting here and his battle with Axe just isn't overly exciting to say the least.

The biggest problem I had with this film is the fact that there really wasn't much energy. The film doesn't really hold your attention and after a while you just get bored with everything going on.

Fourth in this shot-on-video German gore series from director Andreas Schnaas. Karl the Butcher (Schnaas) is released from hell by the devil and sent to a futuristic wasteland where he is to kill Axe (co-director Timo Rose). The place is filled with warring gangs and, naturally, our two titular characters team up after briefly scuffling. But this is no TANGO & CASH (1989). This is really rough stuff and a huge step back for Schnaas. I can hear you saying, "What did you expect?" but Schnaas had been proving himself of making "decent" SOV flicks. I lay a lot of the blame at the feet of Timo Rose, who is always working in goofy sound effects in his own productions and does that here. There is very little style to the film and the set design lives up to the term threadbare as most sets involve a room with sheets hung on the walls. There is the requisite over-the-top gore, but it almost becomes boring after the fourth or fifth decapitation.

The Violent Sh*t movies are amazing. I mean, they aren't GOOD, per say, but they are pretty entertaining. Andreas Schnaas has pretty much gotten better with each new film he has done, and now that Schnaas and Timo Rose have joined forces, it's a gore fan's dream. Unrated The Movie was a bit disappointing to me - but Karl the Butcher vs. Axe does not disappoint. It has all the hyper violence any fan of the genre could ask for. Though, in my opinion, not as good as Nikos the Impaler, this one comes close, and I believe to be one of Schnaas's best films to date, as well as Rose's. It's funny, ridiculous, gory, offensive, and fun. A must see for any fans of German splatter. The last 20 minutes is just pure gore. This one does not disappoint!