Edge of the Axe (1988) – Film Review

Director: José Ramón Larraz

Cast: Barton Faulk, Christina Marie Lane, Page Moseley

Review Author: Tony

Synopsis: The rural community of Paddock County is being rocked by the crazed exploits of an axe-wielding psychopath, who stalks the night in a black trench coat and mask. As the victims pile up, the authorities attempt to keep a lid on the situation whilst computer whizz-kid Gerald and girlfriend Lillian seek to unmask the killer before the town population reaches zero.

Horror movies have always had their fair share of duds, but every now and then, you come across a movie that’s so aggressively, mind-numbingly terrible it leaves you pondering your life choices. And that’s precisely what Edge of the Axe, a 1988 slasher flick, achieves. It’s a masterclass in how to make every possible wrong decision in the horror movie handbook.

A quality slasher film is made of the following essentials: a memorable killer who sticks in your mind, characters you can either root for or love to despise and those creatively gruesome death scenes. Edge of the Axe somehow manages to screw up each and every one of these crucial aspects. This was the golden age of slashers, where masked murderers ruled the roost, and imaginative kills were the name of the game. But this movie takes the rulebook and hammers it with the blunt end of an axe in the most painful way imaginable.

As for the story – if we can even call it that. It’s a messy hodgepodge of half-baked subplots and a who’s-the-killer mystery that’s about as interesting as watching paint dry. It unfolds in some made-up California town, where our main crew includes a video game designer slash computer whiz and his small-town buddies trying to get to the bottom of a recent string of murders. Now, we’re not here expecting Oscar-worthy character development in slashers, but this bunch is a parade of unforgettable dullards and cliché cutouts. You would be rooting for the killer to bludgeon these bores if it weren’t for the fact the killer is as uninspired as his victims.

Then we get to the crown jewel of slasher cinema: the art of creative, gory, and unforgettable kills. Think Friday the 13th or A Nightmare on Elm Street. These films gave us imaginative ways to off their characters, often with a dark sense of humour. Edge of the Axe? Well, you can count those creative kills on a single finger – unless you consider someone getting squashed by a truck even remotely creative. There’s no suspense, no tension, and definitely no humour. All you’re left with is a sense of ‘I’ve seen this, and I’ve seen it done a whole lot better.’

In the grand hierarchy of ‘so bad, it’s good’ horror flicks, Edge of the Axe doesn’t even come close. It’s not charmingly inept; it’s infuriatingly awful. This movie is a stark reminder that even in the world of low-budget slashers, there are some standards. Watching this is like a punishment you’d reserve for your arch-enemy. Save your precious time, money, and sanity, and steer clear of this cinematic catastrophe at all costs. If you’ve got a hankering for watching trash fires, I suggest starting one in your own backyard; at least then, you’d have some warmth to show for it.

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