Bloody Axe Wound

I've never seen a film that so nonchalantly asks you to simply accept the ridiculousness of its premise. It doesn't even try to explain the absurdity and implausibility of it all. There isn't even anyone filming these murders? I thought I was losing my mind. After about 20 minutes though I realised the only way to get any enjoyment out of the film was to simply sit back, accept it, and go along for the ride. Even then, it's touch and go whether you'll enjoy it.

The one thing the movie does well, and really its saving grace, is that it creates some likable characters. It's hard to make a young woman who murders innocents for profit into a pleasant character, but the movie finds a way. Also some of the side characters are quite well created. And so while the horror and story may not always be working for you, at least you can fall back on that.

Some of the gore was quite effective and it's a nice and short film. It knows not to outstay its welcome. It's not all bad, but it certainly does require some effort on the audience's part. A generous 5/10.

Painfully awful movie with a totally misleading star rating. I am puzzled by this rating in fact. The '90s video rental store(necessary for the storyline it appears) precede the age of 99 percent of the actors within the film. I hear there is some nostalgia for this decade lately but it is certainly overshadowed by the hodgepodge of a storyline and/or screenplay. We have not walked out of a theater in many years but this one has surely earned the distinction.

The dad's makeup and the quality werewolf mask alone do not make a movie. The high school cast must also have been responsible for the ratings it received. Gen Z does it again it appears.

Bloody Axe Wound initially comes across as another subversively interesting slasher that aims to have fun with the rules of the sub-genre, but eventually becomes a wasted idea executed in a fun enough way to keep it watchable.

Acting is decent from the Bladecuts, with Billy Burke being an easy highlight of the movie as he handles the humour and the intensity to an impressively balanced degree as the fatherly killer Roger Bladecut. Moreover, Sari Arambulo is really fitting in the lead role of Abbie Bladecut; she is able to convey the struggles and aspirations to follow in her father's footsteps in a straight-faced and very comical way that is still funny but never comes across as silly or overacting. On a more technical note, the cinematography, lighting, and practical gore effects are all very well done. And the story itself starts out pretty strong, with an interestingly funny set up, and the balancing between the jokes and the killings is done to an effective degree.

However, that is also where it seems to be a point of struggle for the film. It can't consistently maintain its aforementioned balance, where the second act very much becomes a high school romance story that very nearly hijacks the main premise several times. The third act, in an attempt the balance the scales again, instead tips them entirely to being a straight up generic slasher flick with a strange and underwhelmingly unrewarding ending.

But it's biggest weakness is by far the world building, with several aspects and plot mechanisms left either unexplored or unexplained. Furthermore, the script can never decide how it works, and it leaves the audience with an utterly baffled sense of confusion as to how particular mechanisms drive the narrative.

Overall, it is funny enough to keep you entertained, but not interesting enough to stick with you and leave any kind of lasting impression.

I went into this blind knowing nothing about it. The whole premise of this movie was something I had not exactly seen before. While I found it somewhat predictable, that had no effect on the joy of watching. I jump from movie to movie if they bore me and not only was I not bored, but I didn't pause the movie at any point as I wanted to see how this would play out. I would have liked to know more background on the main family, there was enough I guess but I want to know why the father is so sure of why these things need to happen. Was some other force a driving factor in what they do or is it just their own set of rules that they always follow to a T. Either way I think anyone will enjoy the watch.

Abigail is the daughter of legendary serial killer (and snuff film maker) Roger Bladekill. When Roger starts to see the effects of age slow him down, he entrusts Abbie to follow in his footsteps - killing teens on video. Upon entering high school to scope out her victims, she encounters friendship and more, snagging her plans of a murder spree. And Dad isn't happy.

Now, that's my synopsis. A good pitch right? If I was a Shudder exec, I would also be putting money behind this. It sounds pretty damn awesome.

Sadly, this falls victim to oh so much. The writing is not coherent in its genre or mood, the characters are given some depth, but it's not delivered right and they still feel 2D, the whole snuff subplot is kinda forgotten for the most part? And something that bothered me to the nth degree: this seems to be set in the 90's, but I'm not sure the costume or set department got the memo.

That bothered me probably more than it should. The 90s have this specific...touch. Taste. Vibe. The clothes used here seem to be repurposed modern day pieces layered to appear grunge-esque. Sam Crane wears a chain as a belt, but it looks like cheap crap bought from Hot Topic. It doesn't look NATURAL. They look like your average current day citizens.

I started noticing corded phones, cassettes, wood-panelled cars, corded headphones, and I realised this is either satirising the popularity of slasher flicks in the 90s or, more likely, supposed to be set in that decade. The integration of old tech didn't make it pass though, too many things were too clean, too cheap, too flimsy, all aspects that are more common to modern day items. This is very specific but it did distract a whole lot, and possibly changed the mood of the whole film.

Most acting is pretty average, with the exception of Margo Anderson-Song, Eddie Leavy, and Billy Burke (yes, Bella Swan's dad in Twilight). These three really seemed to feel their characters. They were much more into it and managed to land their jokes.

That's a whole other problem. The writing. This film doesn't quite know where it wants to sit when it comes to mood. Are we serious? Are we comedic? Are we going into slapstick humour? We can have all of it in one scene, for sure, but the way these bits are written, they mostly fall flat on the floor. It's the sort of jokes where you nod, you don't laugh. You know it's meant to be a joke, but it's terribly unfunny. And it happens every few minutes. It's unbearable. The writers didn't leave time for us to breathe. Just, maybe space the comedy out next time, okay?

I think, overall, I wish there had been a bit of reworking this script before even shooting it. With some changes, it could have even more potential. It might've even been a good film.

I don't think this should be the end for the filmmakers, I do think they clearly have a vision, but it wasn't realised here. Maybe next time.