“The closer you get to them, the harder it will be to do your job.”

Abbie Bladecut (Sari Arambulo) is a teenager torn between the macabre traditions of her family’s bloody trade and the tender stirrings of her first crush. In the small town of Clover Falls, Abbie’s father, Roger Bladecut (Billy Burke), has built an infamous legacy by capturing real-life killings on tape and selling them to eager customers, but as Abbie delves deeper into the grisly family business, she begins to wonder if it’s time to take the family tradition in a new direction.

With Bloody Axe Wound, Matthew John Lawrence offers a film that can be seen as either an homage to the genre or a light parody of slasher movies. But what’s for sure is that it’s a rather original film.

Between Classic and Modern

Interestingly enough, Bloody Axe Wound offers a blend of modernity and classic horror cinema reminiscent of the 1980s-90s films. Several references to Halloween or Friday the 13th populate the film.

Moreover, the murder scenes are shot with simple but effective practical effects. Good old machetes that embed themselves in a head to split it in two, just like in the good old days. We accept to lose a bit of realism on the visual effect to focus more on the pleasure that the viewer can feel. And it works.

We don’t watch this feature film with the aim of seeing a masterpiece, but rather to “trip” (yes, the pun is intended since one of the characters literally has their guts ripped out). That being said, that’s not what makes this film particularly great to watch. It’s rather the fact that the director doesn’t hesitate to exaggerate just about everything that happens. And that works too.

Pushing the Envelope

Well… to be totally objective, it takes a while for the viewer to adjust to the surrealism of the film. At first, we think it’s poorly thought out, that it doesn’t work. Then, as we progress through the story, it all starts to make sense. The line of logic is so far crossed that we end up accepting it and just having fun.

For example, we don’t immediately realize that the films at the video club (yes, there’s a video club) are actually real murders, and that the films rented there don’t seem to attract suspicion. No more than the dozens of students who are slaughtered every year, because the killer only targets graduating students from a high school in the small town. Just those who don’t respect the famous horror movie rules. You know, the ones that say you’ll die if you have sex, if you take drugs or drink alcohol, etc.

But here, the villain isn’t so much a villain since it’s his job – in a way – to kill these young people. Moreover, the police never intervene. As if it were all perfectly natural. I know, it seems ridiculous, but if you let yourself get caught up in the director’s madness, you have a very good time.

Another point that’s out of the ordinary is the fact that the murders are filmed, but there’s never a person filming. As if it were recording itself, just like that. But at some point, we don’t care at all because the film delivers exactly what we want as a viewer. We could say that Bloody Axe Wound shows that a film can be completely off track and still work. It’s just a matter of knowing how to present it the right way.

A Little More…

Although the actors aren’t all excellent, the lead actress is. She manages to draw us into this completely crazy story. The supporting characters are fun and just present enough not to be annoying.

It’s also interesting to see how the director stages the love between the two young women without it being something abnormal. The two girls simply fall in love, as it’s so easily shown when it’s a man and a woman. It’s refreshing. And the duo works wonderfully.

So, if you want excellent entertainment mixing horror and comedy, you’ll be served with Bloody Axe Wound.

Trailer