AXE
(1974)Director: Frederick R. Friedel
Something Weird/Image Entertainment
AXE
(1974)AXE is a short exploitation feature (barely running an hour) that doesn't have time to explain things, but it's still able to pull off characterization. We are introduced to three criminals--Steele, Lomax and Billy. Steele is the acknowledged leader of the gang, with the graying, overweight Lomax as his sidekick. Both wear suits and look like they stepped right out of a Quentin Tarantino film. The younger Billy (who is actually played by the director) looks like a casually attired "Mr. Kotter" and is the quiet, reluctant one. The three break into the apartment of a gay man named Aubrey, and for reasons not given, leave him for dead after much humiliation, including assault with a baby doll and shoving a cigar down his throat.
Now refugees, they take off in their car in search of a hideaway. After humiliating a plump female cashier in a convenience store, they stumble upon a secluded farmhouse in the country. Inviting themselves in, the house is inhabited by young Lisa (Leslie Lee) and her invalid grandfather, who is basically a vegetable in an easy chair. Threatening them at gun-point, Lisa has no choice but to let them stay there, but perhaps the trio picked the wrong house, despite how perfect the scenario seems. Lisa, who likes to hack the heads off of chickens with a hatchet, is evidently disturbed--suicidal and homicidal!
Filmed in South and North Carolina, this very low budget gore feature is a satisfying mix of older films (THE DESPERATE HOURS, SUDDENLY), as well as the then-current LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, which it's not nearly as offensive as. Like I said, the film is very short (hell, even the end credits go on four over three minutes to pad things out), and the audience is left to take things for granted, but the characters are well developed considering. In her only film role, Lee is good as the disturbed Lisa, and she easily exhibits this through blank facial expressions of hopelessness. As far as the hoods go, Jack Canon is the most convincing as the ruthless Steele.
Given its cheap origins, Image and Something Weird have done a more than decent job with the DVD transfer. Grain and dimly lit scenes still surface here and there, with speckle and other markings on the source print, but the colors are surprisingly strong. AXE is presented full frame, and the mono sound is fine with no noticeable problems.
A "video nasty" in the U.K., AXE was released under many different titles, including CALIFORNIA AXE MURDER, THE VIRGIN SLAUGHTER, and LISA, LISA. Trailers under the later two titles (as well as the original "Axe" title) are included, and obvious comparisons to the landmark TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE are implied in these outrageous advertisements. There's also trailers for a number of other Harry Novak exploits, as well as two black and white archival shorts: 1952's "Mental Health: Keeping Mentally Fit" and "We Still Don't Believe It," where sexy Maria Cortez swallows swords while having her clothes slashed off. As always with Something Weird, there's a great array of exploitation ads accompanied by some wild radio spots (GUESS WHAT HAPPENED TO COUNT DRACULA, EATEN ALIVE, etc.).
If those extras weren't enough
to sustain, Something Weird and Image have actually started adding complete
features as a supplement. In this case it's 1972's THE ELECTRIC CHAIR, an odd
film about the murder of a couple and the endless court hearings that result.
The film was directed by the late J.G. "Pat" Patterson Jr., who also
produced AXE and is best known for doing the gore for H.G. Lewis' early films.
The quality on ELECTRIC CHAIR is not much better than an average video cassette,
and the "SWV" watermark is stamped in the corner for the duration,
but it's still an extremely generous and welcomed extra. (George
R. Reis)