In the world of low-budget B-movies you're more likely to get bad movies than good. There's various reasons why, be it lack of filmmaking skills, lack of budget, or just the lack of a script. But then there's a breed of bad B-movies entirely that suck for another reason: indecision. Axe is one of those movies that just can't decide what it wants to be.

Originally titled Greed, this is a movie that scripters Dred Ross and Eyal Sher set-out to make into a double-crossing crime thriller only for gobs of a slasher movie to creep their way in and gum the whole thing up - then again, without that angle the movie would be incredibly boring on top of being awful.

Hell, from the opening scene you'd think this was going to be a straight-ahead "stalk 'n' slash" movie as a couple making out in the middle of nowhere outside their trailer are set upon by an escaped convict (who uses the guy he's chained to as a bullet shield when our boyfriend pulls out a shotgun) who also happens to be a psycho killer dubbed "Ivan, the Axeman". After the couple is chopped up with a machete, we're introduced to Raven (Darlena Tejeiro) and Ashley (Andrea Bogart), two friends who head off for a weekend rock-climbing trip.

On their travels they come across an out-of-the-way bar run by Jason London (who once had some sort of career ahead of him after co-starring in Dazed & Confused) and get into trouble with a bad-ass local motorcycle gang (we know these guys are bad-ass when we see them roll up on goddamn dirt bikes - couldn't the budget even afford the real thing?) leading them on a dull chase scene that ends with the girls finding a satchel of cash on one of the bikes.

From there they hole-up at a local hotel (where Raven points a gun at the night manager and the guy doesn't even blink and gives them a room - I'd be calling the cops myself) and have to deal with not only the ripped-off gang looking for their money, but also the escaped killer who's found an axe and is enjoying using it (and just in case we've forgotten about Ivan amongst all this crime noir bullshit they have multiple radio and television newscasts to remind us he's escaped). Oh, and just for shits and giggles they've even thrown in an afterthought of a sub-plot where the sheriff and prison psychiatrist are hunting down the killer - only to be screwing on the hood of his squad car mere hours after they first meet.

Axe is a totally cheap and completely inept time. Not only is it tame as hell with no skin and minimal blood (although director Ron Wolotzky has his female leads in their underwear as many times as he possibly can), the action scenes are poorly staged (only a shoot-out turned axe massacre is of interest - and even that sucks), and the acting leaves something to be desired. Top-billed London is barely in the thing and when he shows-up for the last third we don't really care.

And just when you think it can't get much worse (since we've had to endure cheaply done chases, Wolotzky attempting for style by using a fisheye lens for the killer's "through the eyes" shot, and the absolute lack of nudity to tide us over), Axe trots out an especially bad finale with an unfathomable "revenge" twist, a crappy fistfight, and even our "Axeman" chasing the girls on an ATV carrying his trusty axe (hey, at least that was worth some unintentional chuckles.). (Chris Hartley, 3/22/06)

Directed By: Ron Wolotzky.
Written By: Dred Ross, Eyal Sher.

Starring: Jason London, Darlena Tejeiro, Andrea Bogart, Joseph Goodrich.

Picture Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: There's a few specks scattered throughout the picture, it's not completely sharp, and there's a few fuzzy moments, but at least it looks a tiny bit better than it would've on VHS.

Extras: On the disc we recieved there was only a trailer, but according to MTI the DVD will also contain a commentary from director Wolotzky (now that would be interesting to hear, just to see if he actually thought he did a good job).

Visit MTI Home Video for more info.