Bloody Axe Wound (2024)

Bloody Axe Wound (2024). 1h 23m

“Abigail is the daughter of legendary serial killer (and snuff film maker) Roger Bladekill. When Roger starts to see the effects of age slow him down, he entrusts Abbie to follow in his footsteps – killing teens on video. Upon entering high school to scope out her victims, she encounters friendship and more, snagging her plans of a murder spree. And Dad isnu0026#39;t happy.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNow, thatu0026#39;s my synopsis. A good pitch right? If I was a Shudder exec, I would also be putting money behind this. It sounds pretty damn awesome.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSadly, this falls victim to oh so much. The writing is not coherent in its genre or mood, the characters are given some depth, but itu0026#39;s not delivered right and they still feel 2D, the whole snuff subplot is kinda forgotten for the most part? And something that bothered me to the nth degree: this seems to be set in the 90u0026#39;s, but Iu0026#39;m not sure the costume or set department got the memo.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThat bothered me probably more than it should. The 90s have this specific…touch. Taste. Vibe. The clothes used here seem to be repurposed modern day pieces layered to appear grunge-esque. Sam Crane wears a chain as a belt, but it looks like cheap crap bought from Hot Topic. It doesnu0026#39;t look NATURAL. They look like your average current day citizens.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI started noticing corded phones, cassettes, wood-panelled cars, corded headphones, and I realised this is either satirising the popularity of slasher flicks in the 90s or, more likely, supposed to be set in that decade. The integration of old tech didnu0026#39;t make it pass though, too many things were too clean, too cheap, too flimsy, all aspects that are more common to modern day items. This is very specific but it did distract a whole lot, and possibly changed the mood of the whole film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMost acting is pretty average, with the exception of Margo Anderson-Song, Eddie Leavy, and Billy Burke (yes, Bella Swanu0026#39;s dad in Twilight). These three really seemed to feel their characters. They were much more into it and managed to land their jokes.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThatu0026#39;s a whole other problem. The writing. This film doesnu0026#39;t quite know where it wants to sit when it comes to mood. Are we serious? Are we comedic? Are we going into slapstick humour? We can have all of it in one scene, for sure, but the way these bits are written, they mostly fall flat on the floor. Itu0026#39;s the sort of jokes where you nod, you donu0026#39;t laugh. You know itu0026#39;s meant to be a joke, but itu0026#39;s terribly unfunny. And it happens every few minutes. Itu0026#39;s unbearable. The writers didnu0026#39;t leave time for us to breathe. Just, maybe space the comedy out next time, okay?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI think, overall, I wish there had been a bit of reworking this script before even shooting it. With some changes, it could have even more potential. It mightu0026#39;ve even been a good film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI donu0026#39;t think this should be the end for the filmmakers, I do think they clearly have a vision, but it wasnu0026#39;t realised here. Maybe next time.”