This subversion of slasher movies is a bloody enjoyable time balancing a contemporary world with an 80s aesthetic.
PLOT: Within the small city of Clover Falls, Abbie’s father, Roger Bladecut, has constructed an notorious legacy by capturing real-life killings on tape and promoting them to keen clients, however as Abbie delves deeper into the grisly household enterprise, she begins to marvel if it’s time to take the household custom in a brand new path.
REVIEW: Ever since Scream, one of many solely methods to actually do an fascinating slasher is to interrupt it right down to its easiest components and subvert them. Many of the customary tales have been accomplished earlier than so including somewhat creativity is absolutely the one strategy to stand out. However there’s a stability that should be struck with the intention to stick out and never fall into widespread pitfalls. Bloody Axe Wound does an incredible job of paying homage to the 80s whereas nonetheless offering a contemporary take. Does it come collectively in the long run or does the knife solely go floor stage? Nicely…
Bloody Axe Wound follows Abbie Bladecut, the adopted daughter of a killer who needs to take after her outdated man. They exist on this world the place not solely are slasher villains actual, their exploits are filmed after which offered/rented to the general public. Don’t assume too arduous on it, because it goes extra for a satirical bend than the rest. There’s even a little bit of unexplained magic However she begins to query whether or not she has a spot within the household enterprise when she begins to develop empathy for her would-be victims. Sari Arambulo has been spectacular since AP Bio so it’s nice to see her flourish in a lead position. It’s not straightforward to stroll this tight rope of satirical violence, and she or he does an incredible job with it. Abbie needs to comply with in her father’s footsteps whereas concurrently making associates together with his can be victims. Whereas I don’t assume that component fully works due to the disposable nature of all the chums, it’s fascinating to see the ethical dilemma.
Excessive Faculty romance is tough to drag off however they do an excellent job of organising Abbie and Sam in a plausible means. It’s good to see a homosexual romance not handled as some sort of “gotcha” second. I don’t have a tendency to love characters like Sam as a result of they really feel overly written to be cool, having the precise reverse impact. Molly Brown is affable, even with the “too cool for school” high quality to her. She and Sari have good chemistry and make the underdeveloped relationship on the web page, actually dwell on the display screen.
Billy Burke is nice because the surprisingly understated Roger Bladecut. He’s in full make-up and makes probably the most of it, getting his annoyance conveyed by the make-up. The design of the killer feels very City That Dreaded Sunset and it really works effectively sufficient. I favored Abbie’s Werewolf masks extra as, oddly sufficient, it felt extra authentic and sudden. And regardless of it being a really transient cameo, Jeffrey Dean Morgan is having an absolute blast as one of many city’s different killers. If something, I wished extra of a glimpse at among the different killers that exist on this world, with some overlap in victims or territory or one thing. It was somewhat odd how he drops out of the narrative fully and we don’t see extra crossover killers.
This options the best hits of slasher settings with a highschool, suburban home, and cabin, amongst others. The price range exhibits somewhat bit with regards to populating the world, nevertheless it works for the story. The varsity feels very mild on folks however this might simply be attributed to the numerous teenage deaths that the city is thought for. Talking of kills, it’s truthfully surprising how BLOODY the kills can get. They get into “how does a human body hold so much blood” territory, but when something, that simply makes it extra enjoyable. This could battle a bit with the moments that it’s making an attempt to go for an emotional intestine punch so it might probably really feel a bit unbalanced.
I gained’t lie, the narrative didn’t come collectively fairly how I wished. The movie feels rapidly wrapped up and components are glossed over that I felt wanted extra consideration. Should you’re not into slashers then Bloody Axe Wound goes to be a troublesome promote as a result of it’s nonetheless firmly a slasher. Characters are killed unceremoniously and there’s a variety of blood. However I additionally see a variety of coronary heart right here too. The messaging might have been a bit higher (the revelation of “they’re just like us!” falls a bit flat) however that’s not likely the purpose of a movie like this. At a light-weight 82 minutes, it’s straightforward to advocate to those that are even on the fence. As a result of this can be a good and enjoyable slasher.
BLOODY AXE WOUND RELEASES IN SELECT THEATERS ON DECEMBER 27TH, 2024.
