Many coming-of-age horror films follow teenage protagonists who are being targeted by their town’s killers. Think Laurie Strode in Halloween or Sidney Prescott in Scream. But, in Matthew John Lawrence’s horror-comedy Bloody Axe Wound, he flips the genre trope on its head, with the film’s protagonist, Abbie Bladecut (Sari Arambulo), not outrunning the killer of her hometown, but rather striving to continue the legacy of her serial killer father.
In the town of Clover Falls, being a serial killer is a twisted form of celebrity as the killers film all their kills then make movies out of the tapes. They distribute tapes through the local video store, run by Abbie’s father, Roger Bladecut (Billy Burke). Abbie’s desire to continue her father’s legacy is scuttled because the days of both the video store and famed serial killers are fading into obscurity. As Abbie attempts to make a name for herself as a killer (who hasn’t actually killed yet), her relationship with her father is tested as she finds out more about his past – all while she is navigating the living hell that is high school.
Lawrence’s script is jam-packed with ideas – probably too many ideas. The film tries to balance being a gory slasher flick (which is complemented with some incredible practical effects and prosthetics), a slapstick comedy, a heartfelt father-daughter story, a high-school-coming-of-age tale, and a blossoming teen romance. The opening fifteen minutes of the film leans heavily into horror-comedy, meeting the expectations promised by the marketing of Bloody Axe Wound. The fast-paced entertaining introduction to the world soon comes to a screeching halt in favour of the more character driven elements of the story which sideline the horror and comedy too much.
The premise of Bloody Axe Wound is cool. It is an interesting new take on over-mined horror tropes. Unfortunately, the script doesn’t dive too deeply into its own ideas, slowly becoming more and more of a generic coming of age film for the majority of its second act, with the occasional blood-and-guts moment popping up in between. That’s not to say that the romantic angle or the relationship between Abbie and her father don’t lead to sincere moments, they are sadly moments that don’t work for this movie.
Clocking in at 83 minutes, Bloody Axe Wound could have benefitted from either a longer run time to flesh out more of the multi-genre ideas, or potentially cut the generic coming-of-age elements in favour of a film that commits to its horror and comedy for the entire runtime.
The lead performance from Sari Arambulo anchors the movie as she leans into the more absurd elements with entertaining abandon. It’s fun watching Abbie run around in the first act of the film, trying to be a part of the serial killer-video tape legacy. Arambulo also brings an authentic sincerity to the story elements that don’t work as well. Audiences will see more of her in the future, whether it’s in the horror genre or not.
Bloody Axe Wound is an interesting concept: one that seasoned horror fans will get a kick out of as it flips genre tropes on their head. Unfortunately, the execution of the premise is weighed down by a story that tries to do far too much in too short of a runtime. The gory visual effects, and solid lead performance will undoubtedly impress, but not enough to save the entire film.
Bloody Axe Wound is streaming on Shudder from March 21.
