Slasher movies, we might theorise, are like the pizza of horror. In other words, even when they’re not much good, they’re still kinda good, so long as those same basic ingredients are being used in the right quantities: masked killer, witless sinful victims, creative or at least gory death scenes. Think of those as the dough, the cheese and the tomato sauce, and then any other extras you chose to pile on top will give it just that little bit of variety. And if it’s a product of the 1980s, the recipe has that bit more authenticity. Can’t fail to be a crowd-pleaser, right?
Well, I don’t know if it’s just my tastes changing with age (I swear I won’t drag this culinary analogy out too much further), but 1988’s Edge of the Axe did not leave this particular customer satisfied. Painfully generic, yet at once trying way too hard to be a break from the norm, it’s all so poorly handled that the only potential joy to be taken from it is of the so-bad-it’s-good variety; but even then it’s not even laughably awful enough to really get the job done. As accustomed as we might be to hyperbole in press releases, seeing this described as a lost classic/slasher masterpiece leaves me wondering if I’ve been sent the right film. I’m aware that José Ramón Larraz is held up as a significant figure in the history of exploitation (and I’m a great admirer of the one other film of his I’ve seen, 1974’s Vampyres), but I struggle to see how this particular film would be of interest to anyone beyond Euro-horror completists.
So, the plot of Edge of the Axe, to whatever extent it bears repeating: well, first things first, there’s a masked, axe-wielding psycho killer on the loose. To give credit where it’s due, this a pretty cool and creepy looking killer with a completely bald white full-head mask, like some midway point between Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees (no doubt deliberately so). In addition to being a good-looking slasher villain, we also have some pretty sweet 80s synth tones accompanying the kills. So there’s that.
However, it seems that almost no one in town gives much of a damn about this killer. The local Sheriff’s department are determined to write off every corpse that shows up as some sort of accident, either afraid of local scandal or actually having to do some work; meanwhile, the locals are continuing to go about their usual business of staying out walking the deserted back streets in the dead of night as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Then we meet Gerald (Barton Faulks), a kind-of cool and handsome computer nerd of the WarGames variety (fairly sure I heard passing mention of a Mr Broderick at one point), who works part time as a handyman. Through a shared love of computers, Gerald becomes friendly with the pretty young Lillian (Christina Marie Lane), but once the pair become close, it comes to light that both of them have a strange fascination with the murders. Lillian feels particularly close to it all, as she comes to suspect the killer might be own cousin, who was institutionalised years earlier following an accident for which Lillian blames herself. However, in this movie it’s not so much a question of ‘Who will survive and what will be left of them?’, but more of ‘who really cares enough to keep watching until the end?’
Pardon the edged weapon pun, but Edge of the Axe is just dull. The murder scenes are too sporadic and poorly executed to have an impact, with make-up effects that consist of nothing beyond each hapless victim being hit repeatedly in the torso with a rubber axe, with a few splashes of joke shop quality fake blood thrown in. There’s zero sex or nudity, which is kind of astonishing given both the subgenre and the director’s track record. In the meantime, the film tries in vain to build intrigue with numerous inconsequential subplots: again, this is less ‘whodunnit’ than ‘whogivesashit.’ Things threaten to get a little more interesting come the final scenes, once some degree of surprise around the killer’s identity arises, but it’s all too little too late by that point.
Arrow Video have done a lot of great work in recent years, bringing old cult favourites and neglected genre titles worthy of rediscovery into the Blu-ray age; and, I hasten to add, doing their bit to keep physical media coveted at a time when it’s threatening to die out. Even so, I do have to wonder if they’re starting to scrape the barrel just a little with titles like this on their release schedule. Still, one man’s trash is another’s treasure and all that, so even though I wasn’t taken with Edge of the Axe, I applaud the label’s efforts and will continue to support them. I just won’t be rushing to snap up this particular release, which comes with four commentary tracks, options to watch in English or Spanish dubs, and boasts interviews with actor Barton Faulks and make-up artist Colin Arthur.
Edge of the Axe is released to Blu-ray on 27th January 2020, from Arrow Video.