Axe would be right at home on a drive-in double bill with The Last House on the Left - seeing as Wes Craven's 1972 shocker seems to be its main influence. Distributed by notable, prolific exploitation maven Harry Novak (Please Don't Eat My Mother!, Rituals, and numerous sexploitation flicks) and running a compact 68 minutes; there's something oddly compelling about this from its choppy editing, minimalist bongo-ridden musical score, and weird padding choices of rather mundane things (milk and cookies, anyone?) to make it a watchable curiosity. It never quite reaches the sleazy heights of Craven's debut but everything sports an off-the-cuff vibe and it's the kind of grindhouse flavour only the 70s could deliver.

Meet our three villains. There's the patient menace of Steele (Jack Canon), the cigar puffing Lomax (Ray Green), and afro'd hippie type Billy (writer-director Frederick R. Friedel). When we first come across them they are lying in wait in an apartment for a criminal friend who has betrayed them. It's here we're given our first shot of quick, brutal violence as Lomax beats their victim to death (partially with a children's doll, no less, and shot with a tight and grimy tone with Green hitting the camera in POV) which sets forth the events to follow.

In the meantime, teenaged Lisa (Leslie Lee) is living in a secluded farmhouse with her vegetative, wheelchair bound grandfather and going through the motions of feeding him, slaughtering chickens for food, and generally being a hermit. We know this is to change soon enough as our crooks, now on the run from the law, make a quick stop at a convenience store where (in the best possible way to keep a low profile) humiliate the female clerk and partake in some skeet shooting using pieces of fruit. They soon end up at the farmhouse and the remainder of Axe becomes a revenge/horror flick as an attempted rape sets off Lisa's murderous tendencies.

Considering it's her only film role, Lee is probably the main reason to watch. She gives a disaffected and distant performance that makes her feel almost alien to everything that's going on around her. It's almost like she sleepwalks through this while occasionally pulling out a straight-razor or axe to do her bidding. As for our trio of baddies; Canon is intimidating enough, Green (who would go on to be a motivational speaker!) matches up decently with his co-star as they look all cool in their white shirts and ties, and Friedel is perfectly acceptable as the only member of the group with a guilty conscience - yes, another similarity to Last House. Considering the flick's tiny budget and uneven delivery the cast could've been much, much worse. It's also worth mentioning this contains early make-up work by Worth Keeter who would go on to direct such b-movies as the killer dog action of Dogs of Hell, the Pamela Anderson erotic thriller Snapdragon, and the Sybil Danning-Wings Hauser romp L.A. Bounty.

I'm not about to tell you that you should rush to see Axe. It really isn't that great a flick due to its utter lack of character development and the fact there's way too many static moments between the (somewhat tame) shock moments. Friedel does bring some thinly veiled morbidity to the flick and the assault scenes are mildly unsettling but, in the end, there's really nothing here that wasn't done better in Last House. Still, if you're at all interested in grimy 70s exploitation, or just want to see how this ended up on the U.K. Video Nasties list (it probably shouldn't of been), it might be worth your while to pick up the DVD put out by purveyors of bizarro cinema, Something Weird. (Chris Hartley, 1/19/15)

Directed By: Frederick R. Friedel.
Written By: Frederick R. Friedel.

Starring: Jack Canon, Ray Green, Frederick R. Friedel, Leslie Lee.

aka: Lisa, Lisa; California Axe Massacre.