EDGE OF THE AXE (1988) Blu-ray
Director: José Ramón Larraz (as Joseph Braunstein)
Arrow Video USA/MVD Visual

After a fallow period during the mid-1980s, Spanish erotic horror auteur José Ramón Larraz popped up again for a trio of American-ized horror films, including the Spanish-lensed slasher EDGE OF THE AXE, on Blu-ray from Arrow Video.

When exterminator Richard (Page Moseley, GIRS NITE OUT) and his computer tech buddy Gerald (Barton Faulks, FUTUREKILL) discover the decomposing body of waitress Maria in the basement crawlspace of Loggie's bar, Paddock sheriff Frank McIntosh (Fred Holliday, LOBSTER MAN FROM MARS) is quick to write it off as an improbably suicide. When hairdresser-by-day/whore-by-night Rita Miller (Alicia Moro, EXTERMINATORS OF THE YEAR 3000) is found chopped to pieces in the railyards, it is looking more and more like the same work as an assailant who axed a nurse to death in the middle of the day in a car wash in nearby Patterson, especially once Richard during a dalliance with waitress Susan (Joy Blackburn, COUNTERFORCE) finds a severed head caught up in his outboard motor. The sheriff and most of the town suspect include fishing resort owner Nebbs (Conardo San Martin, THE AWFUL DR. ORLOF) who has a thing for the ladies – including Richard's wealthy older wife Laura (Patty Shepard, WEREWOLF VS THE VAMPIRE WOMAN) – as well as choir arranger Chris Caplin (Jack Taylor, VAMPIRE'S NIGHT ORGY), but Gerald and Nebbs' daughter Lillian (Christina Marie Lane) come to believe her supposedly dead but recently released from an institution brain-damaged cousin might be lurking in the town's shadows.

One of three slasher-esque films director José Ramón Larraz made in the late 1980s – EDGE OF THE AXE and REST IN PIECES (coming soon from Vinegar Syndrome) for Spanish producer José Frade (Larraz's THE COMING OF SIN) and DEADLY MANOR (coming soon from Arrow Video) for VAMPYRES producer Brian Smedley-Aston – EDGE OF THE AXE is quite polished with some gorgeous blue-tinged night photography by Tote Trenas (THE FALLING) and some well-handled suspense sequences culminating in some gory axe blows courtesy of effects artist Colin Arthur (THE RIFT). While the attempts to make a convincingly American setting are more successful here than most thanks to the mostly American cast – including expats Taylor and Shepard who also appeared in REST IN PIECES – and the mix of Lake Arrowhead second unit with some well-chosen Spanish locations, and there is some attempt at complexity and diversion in the plot which does not entirely come together despite a nice twist ending. The film suffers from a jerky pace that slows down for the requisite investigation scenes and subplot romance in between the more compelling stalk-and-slash sequences. While Larraz has always had an eye for atmosphere, it is difficult to know just how much of the film he was responsible for since some of the discussion in the extras for Arrow Video's Larraz boxed set BLOOD HUNGER – featuring WHIRLPOOL, VAMPYRES, and THE COMING OF SIN – by late life Larraz associate Victor Matellano (director of the VAMPYRES remake) avers that some additional material was directed by credited co-writer/composer Javier Elorrieta (son of FEAST OF SATAN director José María Elorrieta). MURDER MANSION director Francisco Lara Polop served as the film's executive in charge of production (like Taylor and Shepard, Polop was also a Naschy collaborator serving as production manager on COUNT DRACULA'S GREAT LOVE and HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE).

Released direct to video in the United States by Forum Home Video in a very dark transfer that had unreadable credits and only hinted at some of the nicer lighting and compositions, EDGE OF THE AXE comes to Blu-ray in a 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen transfer from a 2K scan of the original camera negative. It would not take much to improve on the old transfer, but this new one looks spectacular, showing off the rustic beauty of the mixed California and Spanish locations while also bringing out detail in facial features and make-up as well as calling attention to all the little "American-isms" added to the production design. Separate English and Spanish versions are playable via seamless branching with opening and closing credits in those languages (Larraz is credited under his real name on the Spanish credits and as Joseph Braunstein on the English), and the English and Spanish LPCM 1.0 mono tracks are both clean. The English track is recommended since the film was shot with live sound and the mix is mainly production audio but the Spanish track also sounds polished.

Shortly after the film, star Faulks quit acting and Los Angeles and moved back to Texas where he started teaching acting, only for this skeleton in his closet to be discovered by his students, including Matt Rosenblatt who convinced Faulks to record a podcast on the film and also moderated a commentary track with the actor. Although once focused more on his own acting choices on the film, he has warmed to it and expresses admiration for the work of his co-stars and Larraz, as well as effects artist Arthur with whom he collaborated on his look (which is easier to assess in the new transfer). He recalls bonding with Moseley and the more seasoned Holliday, points out the onscreen participation of some of the producers and some American expats who were not actors, as well as revealing that he was behind the killer's mask in some sequences to throw off the viewers. A second commentary track features podcasters The Hysteria Continues who discuss the film not only within the context of Larraz's career but the late eighties post-slasher boom when regional productions targeted the home video market. They point out a lot of the film's attempts to situate the film in America throughout the production design and product placement but also muddle some elements of the plot that seemed clearer this time around than when I saw it on VHS but also draw some parallels to films as far flung as the slasher RUSH WEEK, the Whoopi Goldberg comedy JUMPIN' JACK FLASH (the talking computer terminal angle), and SWEET 16.

Faulks also appears in the interview “Gerald’s Game” (11:04) in which he recalled landing the role and really wanting to sink his teeth into it, shooting in Spain, his recent change of heart about the film, and his post-film career. Actor Moseley also appears in “The Actor’s Grind” (11:23) recalling appearing in a few films on the East coast before moving to Los Angeles for the pilot season and landing a role on the soap SANTA BARBARA. His memories about the Spanish shoot include golfing with Holiday and Larraz trusting him enough to let him ad-lib some of his dialogue. “The Pain in Spain" (7:47) is a short interview with make-up artist Arthur who recalls coming to Spain to work on CONAN THE BARBARIAN and continuing to work there, as well as discussion of some of the film's effects work including prop axes designed to allow bodily contact with the actors, some of the film's gore effects, and the design of the killer's mask. An image gallery (3:20) is included along with virtually identical English and Spanish theatrical trailers (2:46 each). Not provided for review are the reversible sleeve featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by Justin Osbourn or the collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Amanda Reyes included with the first pressing only. A 500-copy limited edition available through DiabolikDVD included an exclusive slipcover but it has sold out (another 500-copy lot of the same cover was available directly from Arrow in the UK but it has also sold out). (Eric Cotenas)

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