Arrow Video has a wonderful trend of
finding obscure, rare, lesser-seen slasher flicks that have been
out-of-print for decades and resurrecting them on lavish
special-edition blu-rays. Thanks to them, films like The
Mutilator, Blood Rage, The Prey, and
The Slayer have gone
from incredibly scarce and expensive VHS-exclusives to the recipients
of stunning 2k and 4k restorations with loads of extras. Now, the
1988 slasher Edge of the Axe
joins that list; possibly the most obscure slasher they have yet
unearthed, but one that I am very glad we once again have access to.
I'm a lover of '80s horror films, and like to think I have a very
solid knowledge of obscure slashers; three of the four films
mentioned above I had either seen or owned on VHS long before Arrow
put out their blu-rays. I had never even heard of Edge of
the Axe, let alone seen it, so
naturally it was an immediate must-see for me as soon as Arrow
announced the disc. While I can't say it's one of the best
lesser-known '80s slashers that I've come across, it is a very fun
movie with some definite strong points, and one that fans of the
above films should definitely get a kick out of.
The Film:
Edge
of the Axe
is a Spanish/American co-production directed by Spanish cult auteur
José Ramón Larraz (Vampyres,
Symptoms, Black Candles),
but filmed mostly in English, set in America (Northern California, to
be precise), and clearly meant to cash in on the post-Friday
the 13th
slasher boom. It comes very late in that boom – despite having been
released in the US halfway through 1989, it feels much more like a
mid-80s slasher – and thus probably didn't have much of a chance to
gain traction upon its home video release, but it's a fun (if
unspectacular) genre entry that fans should get a kick out of. It
tries to interject a bit more of a whodunnit mystery into the usual
nasty slasher proceedings, with spotty but sometimes pretty
suspenseful and entertaining results, making it a bit of something
different, even when it doesn't always work. The premise is simple
but effective: in a small town in Northern California, someone is
secretly a masked killer, but no one knows who. The sheriff and a
handful of college kids and twentysomethings are trying to figure it
out, but can any of them solve the mystery before they meet... THE
EDGE OF THE AXE? It's the kind of slasher that's best enjoyed with a
few genre-loving friends and ideally more than a few drinks, so you
can have fun with the movie's cheesier aspects (particularly the
recurring theme of computers and video games, which are wonderfully
dated now), and speculate about who is the killer, and who is the
next to be killed. During my viewing of this blu-ray, which was in
exactly that kind of situation, the phrase “I think this person is
about to meet... THE EDGE OF THE AXE” was uttered on multiple
occasions, and it certainly added a lot of enjoyment to what is
otherwise just a pretty OK middle-of-the-road slasher.
Once
it really picks up steam and the mystery kicks in, though, Edge
of the Axe get
quite fun. It handles the whodunnit aspect of the mystery unexpectedly well, keeping the viewer in genuine suspense about who the killer
is, and pulling off some solid misdirects. A few moments legitimately
took me by surprise, which I did not expect from a slasher that is
otherwise pretty pedestrian in its production. The extras reveal that
the killer is actually played by several different people of
different sizes and body types, to keep the viewer off-balance about
who they might be, and not give any clues that exist outside the
script. It's effective, even if it seems like a bit of a cheat: the
reveal is honestly pretty surprising, but in no small part because
the actor who plays the killer is obviously not the actor who plays
the character the killer turns out to be. I can't say that the
mystery makes a lot of sense – we're talking about a low-budget
Jason or Michael Meyers knockoff, not an Agatha Christy villain –
but it is a lot of fun in the moment, and sets the movie apart from
the pack. The killer also boasts a very cool, effective look, with a
white blank-faced mask which is very creepy and effective. Derivative
of Michael Meyers? Probably. A creepy signature look that could have
been well-used in a franchise (or a better movie)? Definitely.
Unsurprisingly,
coming from a director best known for high-end exploitation movies,
Larraz feels most at home, and Edge
of the Axe shines
the best, in its slasher sequences. It is then that the film's
atmosphere kicks into high gear, and we get some very moody,
effective, well-crafted stalker sequences that escalate into some
nasty kills. Which is also where you can really tell that this isn't
an American film: American slashers usually were more restrained, if
only at the behest of the MPAA. There are some solid gore effects to
be found here, but most of the kills are of a different variety:
rather than cutting away to swap elaborate gore prosthetics and props
in for the actors, Edge
of the Axe opts
for unbroken single shots in which the killer brutally hacks at their
victim with a pretty real-looking prop axe, while blood pumps hidden
either in the axe or the actors' costumes let the blood flow as the
chopping continues. The technique seems simple, but is well-executed
and very effective; the film may not have much Tom Savini-esque gore
(though there is some), but the blunt, direct, and unbroken kills
feel very brutal and pretty realistic, and certainly different than
what we're used to.
Effectively
gruesome, creepy, and atmospheric slasher scenes and some decent plot
twists make Edge
of the Axe
worth a look, and set it apart a little bit from its contemporaries,
but it is absolutely a mixed bag. The plot and characters are pretty
weak, the first act just floats around without building a ton of
momentum, and not much in the film feels tremendously inspired
outside of some of the actual horror scenes. It's one that slasher
enthusiasts will have a good time with, ideally in a movie-party kind
of setting with like-minded horror fans, but casual viewers probably
don't need to be in too much of a hurry to see. Among the pantheon of
obscure, long-out-of-print '80s slasher flicks resurrected on blu-ray
by Arrow Video, it's strictly in the middle of the pack: I've seen
worse movies get the Arrow treatment, but I've also seen much better.
I preferred it to Blood
Rage,
for instance, but it's certainly no The
Slayer.
Score
for the film:
The
Transfer:
Lovingly
restored by Arrow in a new 2k restoration from the original camera
negative, Edge
of the Axe
looks absurdly good on this blu-ray; better than it seems like any
low-budget slasher made for the VHS market could (and maybe even
should) ever look. Detail is incredibly clear, the transfer has a
very prominent grain structure that preserves the 35mm look, and
except for a few small blips, there is no damage to the negative to
speak of. It truly is unbelievable that Arrow can make a film this
obscure and long-lost look this good.
The
audio doesn't fare quite as well. Arrow did the best they could with
the original mono audio track, the music and sound effects are quite
robust, and it all sounds perfectly clear, but the recording of the
dialogue just wasn't that technically great to begin with. The extras
on the disc reveal that the English actors were mostly recorded
on-location with a boom mic, while the Spanish actors were
English-dubbed in post, and this difference really shows: the dubbed
actors sound too clear for the scenes they are in, and the actors who
were recorded on set sometimes sound a bit muffled or far from the
mic. At the end of the day, you can still hear all of the dialogue,
and the track sounds as good as it possibly could, so it is hardly a
bad audio track, and certainly not flawed due to any fault of
Arrow's. It's just... an OK low-budget audio mix reproduced
faithfully. At least the film looks great though.
Score
for the transfer:
The
Extras:
Since
this is a pretty ridiculously obscure film, it shouldn't be too big a
shock that the extras are somewhat modest in comparison to other
Arrow blu-ray special editions. But that's only in comparison to
other Arrow blu-ray special editions; compared to other, smaller
boutique labels who I might have expected to pick up a film of this
level of obscurity instead (like Code Red, who released Larraz's
Black
Candles with
a new HD restoration but no extras at all) the special features on
here are a treasure trove. There is a decent amount to be found, and
it's all really interesting. We get about half an hour's worth of
interviews, and two audio commentaries. The interviews are with the
two lead male actors – the twentysomething friends who are more or
less the film's main characters – and the special effects artist,
who (interestingly enough) is the same guy who designed the apes from
the beginning of 2001.
All three interviews are full of interesting facts about the films,
and give a good sense of the personalities of these American actors
who flew to Spain to make a slasher flick set in California. The
first commentary is with the film's lead actor, Barton Faulks, and is
again full of really interesting details and anecdotes (he still
remembers the making of the film very well, despite it being over 30
years ago), but what makes it really interesting the dynamic between
him and the moderator: shortly after making Edge
of the Axe,
Faulks left film acting and became a high school drama teacher, and
the commentary is moderated by one of his former high school students
who now works in film himself. Hearing the star of the movie riffing
about it with a former pupil, who talks gleefully about how his high
school classmates passed around a bootleg copy of Edge
of the Axe and
couldn't believe their teacher was in it, is delightful. Definitely
one of the more fun commentary tracks I've heard lately due to that
dynamic alone. The second commentary is by the team from The
Hysteria Continues
podcast. They provide a fun and informative fan commentary, and their
affection for slasher flicks is contagious. But that said, it's hard
for them to compete with a commentary featuring a geeky genre fan who
was also a student of the movie's star. While it may not be the most
extras of any Arrow blu-ray, all of them are very high-quality in
terms of the information you get, and they are all worth a look or
listen. They certainly will add to your appreciation of what is
generally a lesser slasher.
Score
for the extras:
As
a film, Edge
of the Axe
is recommended mostly just to serious slasher connoisseurs who want
to sample all the obscure, off-the-beaten-path craziness that the
genre has to offer. It's not the best slasher, nor is it the worst;
it's just pretty average with some redeeming qualities. But fans will
have fun with it, especially if watched in the right context (ie,
with friends and drinks), and it's certainly worth a look. For those
who aren't big fans of slasher flicks, though, I'm not sure that
there's as much to recommend. If you're going to watch it, though,
this Arrow blu-ray is definitely the way to go: between the genuinely
stunning transfer and the solid (if not overwhelming) list of extras,
this is not only undoubtedly the definitive release of the film, but
a much better release than anyone could have ever expected a movie
like Edge
of the Axe to
get. It's pretty amazing work that Arrow is doing, restoring
long-lost and under-seen films like this and making them available
again. While it may not be the best film that they've given that
treatment to, slasher fans can be happy that it has been rescued from
its ultra-rare VHS-only fate, and in the coolest way possible.
Overall
score for the Arrow disc:
-
Christopher S. Jordan
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