Bloody Axe Wound

This movie is most easily described as your average teen slasher with a bit of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon mixed in. We follow Abbie Bladecut, the daughter of a local serial killer and slasher legend. After her father realizes he is getting older, he wants her to continue his legacy of killing innocent teenagers. However, the problem arises when she joins her local high school and is met with kindness and love from the other students. She even finds a potential love interest, which makes her mission to kill rather difficult.

The pitch sounds great, and the movie had immense potential to create something as unique as Behind the Mask. Unfortunately, that potential is not fulfilled, and the movie ends up feeling pretty generic given its premise. The characters are dull and not particularly interesting, and aside from the developing love interest, there isn't much for the audience to latch onto. Even the romance feels generic and disrupts the pacing by creating tonal inconsistencies within the narrative.

Instead of action and kills, we get boring conversations and a fairly predictable romantic subplot. The comedy rarely lands and is definitely not the film's strongest suit. However, the kills are decent and the gore is solid, which is arguably the most important aspect a straightforward slasher needs to deliver.

The movie ends up being enjoyable overall, but it's far from great or particularly engaging. Genre fans might still have a decent time, but with a premise like this, it could have been much more unique and entertaining. Sadly, it just ends up as another average horror release.

[5.3/10]

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.

This was a very silly movie that parodies slasher flicks that revolves around a slasher dad who has a family business in creates slasher films and owns a film rental store who is trying to groom his adopted daughter to rise up and take over the business and save it before it goes under. It was very campy and corny at times but some parts were entertaining and there was some kind of underlying message about breaking the status quo of being a typical slasher when you start letting your emotions run wild. For what it is, if you're into seeing a mock up flick that pokes fun at slasher flicks while showcasing what it would be like to be the kid of a Jason Voorhees like character then check this one out.

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.