Edge of the Axe (1988) 

2020 Arrow Video release, excellent artwork by Justin Osbourn

  It's not usual for me to purchase a film on blu-ray that I have never heard of, let alone having seen said film before in any way. But as a blu-ray collector, I cannot resist the urge to pick a relatively obscure title that receives a high-quality release on blu-ray, specifically slasher movies from the 80s. I have a soft spot when it comes to these films. There's an enduring charm that makes these movies such a joy to watch. These movies can range from being surprisingly good to downright bad or criminally overlooked and forgotten classics of their genre. These films are provided by such home media distributors as Scream Factory, Arrow Video, Vinegar Syndrome, and so many more. Let's look at the relatively forgotten Spanish-American slasher film Edge of the Axe (1988). 

  

  I had first heard of this movie when Arrow Video announced they would be releasing this film on their lineup of Blu-ray releases for the first time since its original VHS release. Arrow Video specializes in bringing the finest in the realm of classic, cult, and arthouse cinema to fantastic Blu-ray releases. These releases include newly commissioned artwork for the front cover and a host of bonus features, even having a collector's booklet if you buy the first pressing editions. They also restore said films from the original camera negative to high definition transfers of exceptional quality. I remember seeing the artwork for this release, which had a cool-looking, ax-wielding killer cutting down a door Jack Torrence style while his victim of bloody fingers watches on in terror. Sufficed to say, I was intrigued, and eventually, I bought it once it was released back in January 2020.

José Ramón Larraz (1929-2013)

  Edge of the Axe, also known as "Al Filo del Hacha" in Spanish, is an obscure slasher film from the late 80s, directed by cult filmmaker José Ramón Larraz. Larraz had previously helmed exploitation horror romp Symptoms and lesbian vampire horror flick Vampyres, both released in 1974. The film follows a straightforward plot seen in many slasher films before. A masked killer terrorizes a rural town named "Paddock County" situated up in the mountainous regions of Northern California. Two computer-obsessed adults named Gerald (Barton Faulks) and Lillian (Christina Marie Lane) set out to unmask the ax murderer before more bodies continue to pile up. Judging by that plot description, one would assume that this is your standard cliché ridden, barebones slasher flick, but to my surprise, Edge of the Axe has a few distinctive characteristics that help it stand out among other slasher movies of that time. 

    The film was a co-production between Spanish and American producers, with most of the cast being a mix of Spanish and Americans, with the lead actors being primarily American. The film was shot in both the United States and Spain, with the scenes being cross-cut to give the illusion that it takes place in the same location. Most of the scenes that took place in the town were filmed in Big Bear Lake, North California, while the scenes that took place inside a house or building were filmed in Madrid, Spain. 

  What I mostly focus on a slasher movie, aside from the story, characters, and what not, is the look of the killer himself. The killer in this movie has a certain look that helps him stand out among other slasher film villains we've seen before on countless other films. The killer in Edge of the Axe wears a white, featureless mask that has no outlines around the mouth and nose area, only having holes in the eye area and holes where the nose would ventilate. Aside from not featuring any fancy cosmetics, I like the look of the killer's mask; it's slick, modern, and overall very distinctive, it can separate itself from the pantheon of well-known horror film villain masks, specifically those of slasher films. In addition to this, the killer also wears a raincoat with black leather gloves, wielding a fire ax as his murder weapon of choice. 

  I found Edge of the Axe to be very well shot, given that it is a relatively obscure film from a decade that had multiple direct-to-video slasher flicks with low-quality filming and questionable production values. Edge of the Axe looks and feels like a professional production, Tote Trenas' cinematography looks pretty good, it has a unique look that makes it reminiscent of the Italian "Giallo" movies from the 70s, such as Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971) and Deep Red (1975). The film's restoration looks absolutely stunning, as Arrow Video always does with their releases, often making these obscure films seem as if they were made just recently; they always restore the films from the original camera negative and it's a very impressive feat to see obscure films be restored and make them resemble productions from the modern age. 

                             

                                                 The two main leads, Lillian and Gerald

   One curiosity I came to notice in the film were its two main characters, computer obsessed geeks Gerald (Barton Faulks) and Lillian (Christina Marie Lane), and the way they interacted with one another. At some points in the movie, they communicate through the use of computers, through text messages, before that became a major way of communication when the late 2000s rolled around. I found these characters to be a pleasant presence in the movie, their friendship and their developing relationship is a nice, welcome subplot to see in a genre where we don't typically see such a thing unfold. Aside from this, Gerald's friend     Richard (Page Moseley) is pretty entertaining to watch, and they both have a pretty good scene together while driving to the house of Maria, who they find to be a victim of our killer. 

 The slasher films of the 80s were known to have questionable acting, but Edge of the Axe is decently acted, for the most part, particularly the Spanish dub of the film, which was the way I first watched the film, given that I treated this as a foreign film, by watching the film in its native language with English subtitles, much like I did with Lucio Fulci's Zombie (1979) and Nico Mastorakis' The Wind (1986), but those are films to talk about for another time. The dialogue in this movie didn't feel amateurish in any way, the actors played their roles very well, and the production values are actually pretty good, it certainly does look like a decently budgeted horror flick that's not shot in crummy videotape quality. 

  Aside from those details, Edge of the Axe has two notable characteristics that make it stand out among the low budget slasher flicks that were common in that era. There is no nudity featured in the movie, which is very unheard of for a slasher flick, given that this was a typical cliché that was featured prominently in most slasher movies of the 1980s, particularly the Friday the 13th films. Yet in Edge of the Axe, we never see a female character show any of her intimate parts, let alone a couple engage in sexual intercourse. In fact, the only example of nudity we see in this movie is the backside of Lillian when she wraps a towel around her, but it's brief and isn't too explicit to the eyes. 

  Another notable characteristic of this film is its lack of explicit gore, a common cliché found in many slasher movies of the era. These scenes emphasized the bloody carnage and grisly deaths that these characters would fall victim to, yet in Edge of the Axe, we never get overly gory deaths. All of the kills in this movie are mostly ax murders, with the characters getting hacked to pieces with multiple blows coming from our killer. The kills themselves are well shot, not using the aberration known as quick edits, but instead, we get to see how the killer hacks his victims to death with his ax. It looks realistic, stylish, unrelenting, and the blood splatter doesn't fly out like the air out of a punctured can of cologne, like how we've seen in other slasher films before.

  

                                             

                                             Alternate cover art for the reversible slipcover. 

  There's a murder mystery vibe to this film, like one of those Agatha Christie novels except there's no Hercule Poirot to solve the case, instead we the audience see the police investigate these murders, as well as interview several characters that may have some connection to these murders, even be the killer themselves. Here is where we get the typical characters that are suspicious and some visual cues as to make a connection between the murders and who is committing them. Edge of the Axe features a twist ending, similar to Sleepaway Camp but a tad bit clunky in execution, it could have benefitted from showing us scenes where all the dots connect and we realize who the killer is, something similar to the reveal in The Usual Suspects. Still, it's an absolute thrill ride of an ending that amused me when it came out of nowhere, yet I wished it was properly executed in a manner that really brought out its WTF factor. 

  

  I have to admit that this isn't a perfect film by any means; it sometimes drags on at times, becoming a little uninteresting in some scenes, but overall, I found it to be a well-done forgotten slasher film that is now getting the recognition it deserves, thanks in large part to Arrow Video. Comparing this movie to other Arrow releases that fit in its category, these films being Blood Rage, The Mutilator, and Doom Asylum, I believe that it's the best out of all of them, although I do have a soft spot for sleazy, gory slashers like Blood Rage. Edge of the Axe may not reinvent the slasher film, but it's a welcome, albeit late, addition to the genre of 80s slasher films. 

No copyright infringement is intended with the use of these images. All of these images belong to the film Edge of the Axe and the respective owners of these images used for the review of the movie.