Coming of age can be difficult. You want to prove yourself, but you’re not entirely sure who you are yet. What is important to you? What really matters? How are you going to make yourself noticed? And will anyone pay attention?
These are questions that are often the crux of coming-of-age films, in the horror genre and beyond. Young characters trying to find their place in the world, whether that be the small town Oregon of Stand By Me, or the monstrous life opening up to Izzy in Hellbender. These films always see a character at a turning point, one foot in childhood and one in adulthood, trying to figure out where their next steps will take them. In Bloody Axe Wound, that path happens to be littered with dead bodies.
Abby Bladecut (Sari Arambulo) is going through typical teenager stuff. She is pushing boundaries, asserting her independence, and is desperate for her father to take her seriously and realize that she can take on the mantle of the family business. The family business, by the way, is murder. Her father is notorious slasher Roger Bladecut (Billy Burke). He is infamous. He has slayed dozens of teens. He always comes back when they kill him off. There have been many movies made about his exploits (more on that later). He has crafted a dynasty and Abby is more than ready to assume the throne and follow in her dad’s footsteps. If he would only give her a chance!
That chance comes when Roger finally realizes that he isn’t the spry twenty-something that he was when he started all of this, and that he might not have the strength to finish the latest body count that he started. So he invites Abby in to prove herself. And she is ecstatic. She is ready. She has been training her whole life for this, and those teenagers are toast.
Abby is all ready to make her mark, but then she meets Sam (Molly Brown). The teen who was supposed to be her first victim, quickly becomes her first crush. Sam is perfect. She’s smart, she’s funny, she’s a rebel, and Abby can’t take her eyes off of her. As the two get to know one another, Abby begins questioning whether or not this whole slasher thing is really her deal, and is set at odds with the path that she has always planned to follow. First love can do that.
The film is a horror comedy with a lot of charm. Not all of the jokes hit, but the cast is great and Arambulo really gives us a character to root for in Abby. Her performance is equal parts charismatic and heartfelt, and she really shines here. Billy Burke is a great counterpoint as Roger. The pair bounce off each other effortlessly and really bring the father-daughter dynamic to life.
While the film is fun and light, the structure is a bit frustrating at times. It often feels as though some of the more important world building details were left out or glossed over too quickly, leaving us confused as to how this reality holds itself up. The opening narration tells us that real-life murders (like the ones committed by Roger) have been put on tape and sold to the masses in the small town of Clover Falls for decades as slasher films. Not used as inspiration for the movies, but the real murders wind up on video tapes as a slasher narrative. So the story takes place within the world of a slasher film. But the characters are also able to access and watch these tapes, so the story sort of has one foot in the slasher reality and one foot in the reality of us, as the viewer. It’s a bit confusing.
If we left the tapes out of it, we would have a solid slasher comedy about what happens in the world of the slasher film. But the movies, the video store, and the fact that the films are tangible, in-world articles create unnecessary confusion. Sure, you can overlook it and still have a good time, but should you have to do that? There are a lot of interesting ideas here and opportunities for further development that the filmmakers unfortunately opt to ignore in favor of delivering a high-energy horror comedy. And while it’s fun at times, seeing some of those missed opportunities really shows how interesting a different version of this story might have been.
At its core, Bloody Axe Wound is a frustrating horror comedy that is largely saved by its huge heart. There is a lot of charm here and the actors really give it their all. The details of the world building leave the story a bit murky. And while that is frustrating at times, it doesn’t undo the work that went into bringing this story to life or the rich way that the cast leaves their individual marks on the material.
Movie Score: 2.5/5
Emily von Seele hails from Seattle, where it rains a lot, which gives her plenty of excuses to stay inside and watch movies. She has written for Bloody Disgusting, Daily Dead, the Women in Horror Annual and Grim Magazine, and is co-host of the Dead Ringers podcast. You can usually catch Emily on Twitter (@horrorellablog), where she has been known to gab excessively about movies and tweet adorable pics of her two cats - seriously, they are the cutest ever.
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