More widely released under the title 'axe'. Three men, Steele (Jack Canon), Lomax (Ray Green) and Billy (director Frederick R. Friedel) break into an apartment. They lie in wait for the owner, Audrey. It becomes clear that Steele is in charge but Billy is uncomfortable. When he eventually arrives home with his gay lover Audrey is brutally beaten to death by Steele and Lomax, and his friend jumps out of the nearest window. The men decide to escape the city for a while and lay low in the countryside. After terrorizing a girl (Carol Miller) who works in a shop by making her strip and trying to shoot apples off her head, they end up at a remote farm house where a young girl named Lisa (Leslie Lee) who looks after the farm and her paralyzed grandfather (Douglas Powers) who sits around all day in his wheelchair watching a T.V. that doesn't seem to work properly. They more or less invite themselves to stay. Once again Billy is uneasy about the idea, but since he is implicated in a murder he reluctantly goes along with it. Later that night Lomax tries to rape Lisa, she reaches over to a table beside her bed and pulls a straight razor out. From then on Lisa turns the tables on her tormentors and turn them against each other, before eventually calling the police. But what will the police find when they turn up? Will the criminals escape? And will Lisa and her grandfather survive? Written, directed and starring Frederick R. Friedel this is a sleazy little exploitation film. It's script is mildly interesting, as Lisa switches between murderer and innocent child, Leslie Lee's performance is actually rather good. In fact most of the cast are OK in their roles, even though there are only ten characters in the whole film. But no back story is given to any of the them, we don't know how Lisa's grandfather was paralyzed or why Steele and Lomax beat Audrey to death in the opening sequence, any of their surnames, none of them are developed. There is no real violence or gore in it, just a little bit of blood here and there and a decapitated chicken. Technically the film sucks, the photography is jerky and the lighting is non-existent so you can't see whats going on during scenes at night, the sound is poor as there is a constant hiss all the way through and a lot of the film seems dubbed, and the music is awful and becomes annoying very quickly. But the film does have a real sleazy atmosphere about it, and entertains to a point. The film only lasts just over an hour which is just as well, but it did seem longer. Worth a watch if you like this sort of thing, but casual viewers should avoid it.
Review of Axe
