Edge of the Axe (1988)

You won't be disappointed!

Wonderful character development!

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

As a fan of slashers and giallos, the movie obviously caught my attention. I had to see it somehow! For some reason, the whole grimy picture didn't really sit well with me. Generally these European directors pay a lot of attention to visuals and their movies are generally visually good looking. But this movie wasn't one of them. There were times when I couldn't see what was going on and I was trying my best to see who was getting knocked off.The twist is actually pretty good so that is one of the positives of the movie. Surprisingly there is not much cheesiness at all. Maybe that is to its detriment. Where is a good 80s slasher movie without the cheesy lines and characters? This one had none of that.I don't mind that but surely most slashers fans may not like the whole serious approach. I prefer that but this movie seems a little bland. The music is good and the atmosphere is fine.Not much gore though and whatever is there is not very visible either. No nudity either.6/10

I remember seeing "Edge of an Axe" many years ago on German satellite television.It's the highest time to watch it again.Jose Rammon Larraz has made a steady output of horror films including "Vampyres"(1974),"Symptoms"(1974),"Stigma"(1979),"The National Mummy"(1980),"Rest in Pieces"(1987)and "Deadly Manor"(1990).A series of brutal axe murders is plaguing small town in Northern California.The killer wears white Michael Myers inspired mask and rain slicker and the police is unable to trace the suspect.The pace is fast and the direction is solid,but there is not enough strong gore for my liking."Pieces" by Juan Piquer Simon is much bloodier and more brutal than "Edge of an Axe".Still if you like low-budget slasher movies give this one a chance.7 axes out of 10.

Edge of the Axe has a lot of basic slasher elements. Plenty of murders by somebody in a creepy mask, a couple chase scenes, and a cute leading lady. So what is it about this movie that makes it so underrated? Well unlike most slasher films the acting is actually not too grotesquely bad (at least the two main characters are okay actors), the murders are actually pretty shocking because they happen at times you don't expect like a woman being murdered in a car wash during broad daylight, the killer is a HUGE surprise and you never see it coming (in which the ending to this movie is pretty similar to the ending in The Dorm that Dripped Blood, Cheerleader Camp, and even somewhat like Unhinged). The plot is pretty simple and generic. Somebody is whacking off locals in a small suburban town and nobody has any idea who the killer is. The main suspect in the crime is a guy named Gerald, who meanwhile is having a relationship with a cute blonde girl named Lilly. Lilly and Gerald do a little investigating of their own to find out who the killer is while more people are getting killed off. And the more people get killed, the more red herrings come along. So after a while the killer starts to target Lilly and Gerald.One of the best things about the murder scenes is that they have really good cat-and-mouse scenes that add suspense and make you wonder if the person being chased might actually survive or not. Another thing is that even though the killer resembles Michael Myers they're creepy because the person being murdered does know who it is before they're killed (like a woman saying "Oh, it's you" before the killer puts on the mask and kills her) Another thing about this movie is that it ends very abruptly. That might not seem like a positive thing but the movie ends RIGHT when you realize who the killer is. And the way you find out they're the killer is in a very strange subtle way which consists of them making a demented smile at the camera as the final shot of the film. So basically if you really like slasher movies get this. It's tricky, it's kind of unusual compared to other slashers, it's a pretty good slasher movie.

Routine and by-the-numbers 80's slasher, but nonetheless a very entertaining one albeit a bit slow in places. "Edge of the Axe" is remotely gorier and creepier than most of the contemporary slasher efforts, because the killer wears an uncanny plaster mask and uses (like the title makes pretty clear) a sharp 'n shiny axe to turn his victims into – and I quote one of the cop characters here – hamburger meat! The killer targets yummy women living in two remote neighbor towns named Patterson and Paddock. The exaggeratedly imbecilic police officers try to pretend that even the most obvious murder cases are ordinary accidents, or in the best case, unfortunate suicide. The plot doesn't provide too many clues for the audiences to join guessing who the killer is, but don't bother anyway, as there are a couple of delightfully absurd and unpredictable twists near the end of the film. Downright AWESOME end shot, by the way. The direction in "Edge of the Axe" is much better and more stylish than in most 80's slasher, but I didn't except anything else, since José Ramón Larraz isn't just some randomly assigned director, but the creator of a couple of underrated and marvelous 70's gems, like "Vampyres", "The Blood Virgin" and "The House that Vanished". Mostly thanks to his skills and experience, "Edge of the Axe" is occasionally atmospheric and even suspenseful in places. The special effects are adequate and the imagery (like chopped off heads floating in the water and decomposed corpses falling from attics) is suitably nasty, making this an above average and recommendable effort. Larraz was also responsible for another obscure slasher puppy with an appealing title, namely "Rest in Pieces". Based on this movie, I think I should start looking for the other one, too.