This no-budget schlocker follows a group of criminals— two of them unabashed chauvinists — who murder two gay men and then take off into the countryside to hide from the police. They come across a rural farmhouse where a young woman lives with her mute paralyzed grandfather. Expecting Southern hospitality, they get a little more than they bargained for.
"Axe" (also known as "Lisa, Lisa") has been on my "must watch" list for years now, so I'm happy to have finally seen it. The plot here is nonessential; there really isn't a story to be told. Writer and director Frederick Friedel takes concepts from other indie schlock films of the era ("Last House on the Left" comes to mind, as well as "I Spit on Your Grave," though "Axe" predates it) and moulds them into a tight-knit mood piece that is engaging in spite of the fact that it really goes nowhere.
There are few thrills to be had here and the unfolding of the skeletal narrative is lugubrious at best, but there is something to be said for the film's moody presentation. At times the cinematography evokes an almost documentary feel akin to Tobe Hooper's "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," and the languid farmhouse setting is quietly sinister. The characters are fairly one-dimensional; among the criminals are the two ruthless killers/chauvinists/rapists, and a sympathetic sidekick who actually possesses a conscience. The character of Lisa is inarguably the most ambiguous, lounging around the farm in a white prairie dress when she's not cutting herself in the bathroom or butchering chickens. The acting is sub-par but overall decent given the type of film this is.
Maybe the strangest thing about it is how brisk it is. The film barely runs over an hour in length, and this fact paired with the loose narrative ends does give the sense of an underdeveloped concept, although the quirks that come with its underdevelopment are perhaps what make it most memorable. In spite of what the advertising would have you believe, the gore is minimal, but the film is appreciable on an aesthetic level— especially for genre fans who find the notion of an unhinged Laura Ingalls wielding a hatchet to be inexplicably fascinating. 7/10.
"Axe" (also known as "Lisa, Lisa") has been on my "must watch" list for years now, so I'm happy to have finally seen it. The plot here is nonessential; there really isn't a story to be told. Writer and director Frederick Friedel takes concepts from other indie schlock films of the era ("Last House on the Left" comes to mind, as well as "I Spit on Your Grave," though "Axe" predates it) and moulds them into a tight-knit mood piece that is engaging in spite of the fact that it really goes nowhere.
There are few thrills to be had here and the unfolding of the skeletal narrative is lugubrious at best, but there is something to be said for the film's moody presentation. At times the cinematography evokes an almost documentary feel akin to Tobe Hooper's "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," and the languid farmhouse setting is quietly sinister. The characters are fairly one-dimensional; among the criminals are the two ruthless killers/chauvinists/rapists, and a sympathetic sidekick who actually possesses a conscience. The character of Lisa is inarguably the most ambiguous, lounging around the farm in a white prairie dress when she's not cutting herself in the bathroom or butchering chickens. The acting is sub-par but overall decent given the type of film this is.
Maybe the strangest thing about it is how brisk it is. The film barely runs over an hour in length, and this fact paired with the loose narrative ends does give the sense of an underdeveloped concept, although the quirks that come with its underdevelopment are perhaps what make it most memorable. In spite of what the advertising would have you believe, the gore is minimal, but the film is appreciable on an aesthetic level— especially for genre fans who find the notion of an unhinged Laura Ingalls wielding a hatchet to be inexplicably fascinating. 7/10.