PodBill Just what I expected

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Toronto85 A masked serial killer is murdering women in a small town in 'Edge of the Axe'. We meet Gerald who loves computers, his exterminator friend Richard, two sisters Lillian/Susan, and Richard's older wife Laura. Our main character Gerald meets Lillian who he immediately clicks with. They end up talking about their love for video games, and he shows her his new computer and how it works. In the midst of all this "fun", young women are getting hacked to pieces by some maniac wearing a stark white mask and carrying around a large axe. A prostitute, a farmer's wife and a woman who works at the local church choir are among the victims. They all have one thing in common which lead us to a bit of a surprising ending.I really liked this one. it had some really close and intense moments with the killer stalking his/her victims. There are some really good night time scenes which are pretty eerie. The acting was okay throughout, especially from the lead characters. I didn't have any issues with it. 'Edge of the Axe' doesn't do THAT good of a job building up the characters and giving them much story, but which late eighties slasher flick did? There's this interesting rock beat that comes on each time the killer strikes which is surprisingly effective and creepy in a way.And I have to mention that this was the first slasher film I've ever seen to include a car wash murder. Check it out! 7/10

Scarecrow-88 Women are being butchered by some wacko in a white mask, using an ax. Each murder victim is tied to an "acute psychopath". Richard(Page Mosely) is an exterminator married to an older woman named Laura(Patty Shepard). Richard's friend is Gerald(Barton Faulks) who is currently living in a room at an old man's place, I guess some friend of his estranged family's. Gerald takes a shine to a troubled girl named Lillian Nebbs(Christina Marie Lane), the daughter of a local fishing shop owner. Richard becomes involved with a younger, more attractive girl near his own age and Laura has lost all her riches to bad investments. All this boring melodrama aside, bodies continue to turn up, hacked to pieces. You can bet one of the principles has something to do with the killer. Computers used and this supposed cousin named Charlie factor into the revelation of the identity of the killer.EDGE OF THE AXE moves at a languid pace, and the characters, particularly Richard and Gerald, are about as appealing as a wart on the face. And, this Chief of Police, Frank(Fred Holliday), is a real piece of work..I mean, he's unbelievable, this guy, dead bodies keep turning up and he will continue to insist that they be ruled anything other than murder, just so the locals won't panic. The problem is that if you could care less about any of the characters in this movie, your mind wandering elsewhere, how will the result of the plot leave any sort of impact? The murders themselves are explained at the end, but how the women are all connected is rather weak in execution. The axe attacks are savage(the ones we actually see on screen, that is), but not necessarily effective. I think it comes ultimately down to how the story is developed and if the characters are interesting. I think it fails miserably on both accounts, but others could feel differently. There just isn't anything in the movie that was interesting enough to keep my attention..and, I'm an undemanding person who just asks for story and characters that are worth investing my time. I can't believe such a waste of time was directed by José Ramón Larraz, it's all so uninspired and formulaic.

lost-in-limbo There's a killer in a small community who wears a mask and is chopping up women with an axe, and the sheriff seems oblivious to the threat despite the concerns of the locals. This leaves the computer whiz Gerald, who just arrived in town along with local girl his romancing Lillian to figure out the identity of the killer.As slashers go, Spanish director José Ramón Larraz's (Vampyres, Black Candles) 'Edge of the Axe' is a modest (and typical) low-budget throwback to the sub-genre. Maybe not as daring and spirited as it could have been with the work that's behind this director, but it's gloomy factor is detectable. The main problem here was that it would switch on and off. Meaning one minute it would have you grip (especially when it was focusing on the killer stalking their victims), but then suddenly it would release its firm hold (when it decided to meander on nowhere plot stoppages and awkward exchanges). Credit due, as it tries to develop its characters in some shape and promote red herrings, but few aggravations arose namely in the close-minded and uninterested attitude of the sheriff. Sure it's set in a small town, and the officers wouldn't have experienced anything quite like it, but the manner they went about things were tritely unconvincing.Larraz's direction is ably pulled off (despite sluggish passages) with a certain flourishing style (gliding camera-work) making the attack scenes viciously intense (although not particularly gory) and bleeding out a creepy atmosphere within a cowering country town in fear. The images of the brutal killer with their shiny axe and white plastered mask are an unnerving sight, but the revelation and story surrounding the masked murderer becomes rather daft and low-brow. I don't think it's as predictable, because I didn't really pick up on any clues that would suggest so but in the end it's too convenient and the sudden conclusion you see coming. There are some strange country music inclusions too, but the score has some ominous moments. The performances range from fair (Christina Marie Lane) to reasonably static (Barton Faulks). Patty Shepard shows up too.Effective when it wants to be brutal, but very casual otherwise. An unusual, if loose slasher enterprise.

EyeAskance A small woodsy town is beset by an an axe-swinging psychopath who dons a whiteface mask and raincoat. An assortment of odd characters make the suspect list, but authorities remain vexed as the death toll rises.As far as slasher entries go, I figure that EDGE OF THE AXE may be a notch or two above the quotidian. Nevermind the flat script, humdrum performances, and feeble "surprise" finale, because the murder scenes are graphic and quite brutal(and for the chronic watcher of body-count flicks, that will generally be the determining "hit or miss" factor). One murder scene which takes place in a drive-thru carwash is especially memorable.All things considered, an amusing enough timewaster which should have gorehounds doing a happy little tap-dance of appreciation...certainly nothing to sing about, but in a subgenre chockablock with so many truly deficient examples, it at least appears to be somewhat meritorious by comparison.5.5/10