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
jrd_73
Jose Larraz made the entertaining film Vampyres but this slasher film is merely average. I tend to like the stalk and slash sub-genre but there is nothing about Edge of the Axe to make it stand out from many others of its type. Women in a small community are being killed off by someone with an ax. The (incompetent) police chief can't see the connection and seems somewhat resigned as bodies pile up in his small town. A computer genius (1988 model) takes up the investigation. Frequent genre star Jack Taylor turns up briefly. I counted nine deaths with four being partially or completely off screen (and that is including two bodies that are discovered post-murder). No nudity, no soothsayer, a half pint of blood, the killer wears a mask similar to the one in Torso. (shrug)
brocksterh
Well, hmmm, um...hmm. I guess this movie was ...ok. It certainly could use a better script and better effects and less crappy violence, i mean, those were totally not her real fingers... or boobs. The cheesy 80's pick up lines were overused and just plain dumb. There were also some scenes without a purpose: who goes into the woods for a "shortcut" when there's a mass murderer on the loose?. Seriously who's that dumb? That dang priest.The acting could also use some improvement, but that Farton, I mean Barton Faulks was incredible. His performance was just sweet. I did like Faulks-face. Who was the computer's voice? Man, was it Charlie? Or that creepy girl with the eyes? The lead girl was also kinda dumb: "I asked it if you were gay". Who asks that to a computer? I just asked my computer if this movie was gay and it said information unknown because no one has seen this movie. The soundtrack, however, caught my attention. *eerie sound*......tan tan tan tan TAN TAN!
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
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