There are only a few jokes—and tropes and ideas—that the makers of the slasher comedy “Bloody Axe Wound” don’t skate by without a second glance. That’s a shame because there are also a few intriguing plot twists—and gags and allusions—that make this semi-serious genre hybrid worth getting your hopes up about.
“Bloody Axe Wound” mostly flies by whenever it’s a coming-of-age story about Abbie (Sari Arambulo), an awkward and inexperienced teenager who struggles to keep her cool around her new high school buddies, particularly Sam Crane (Molly Brown), Abbie’s first crush. At least, it seems like it’s her first. Characters often hint at secondary emotions negligibly developed through uninspired dialogue or a pandering scenario.
Still, “Bloody Axe Wound” is mostly entertaining when it’s a juvie dramedy about a girl and her overwhelming new feelings. Unfortunately, there’s more since the young lady in question happens to be the daughter of Roger Bladecut (Billy Burke), a disfigured serial killer who reluctantly agrees to let Abbie take over the family business: killing teenagers for fun and profit.
Most of the unanswered questions surrounding Abbie’s background and story feel like missed opportunities for deeper humor and/or drama. She starts as the adopted daughter of an overly familiar slasher villain, complete with Freddy-like facial scars, a Jason-style mask and summer camp backstory, and a Leatherface- (or Norman-, or Ed-)type dead mother. Then Abbie begs her dad to take over for him, stalking teens at night and working by day at an ailing video store, selling VHS tapes of a long-lived horror franchise starring Roger. He eventually lets Abbie take his job, as well as his mask and an axe of her own, but only provided that she “follow the rules.” Which is weird considering that there’s no generic rule—or clichéd dialogue, or stock characterization—that isn’t either defied or conveniently forgotten.
To enjoy “Bloody Axe Wound,” you have to accept the characters as amusing types who frequently wink at you about their sketchy nature. Abbie and Sam develop feelings for each other through some very by-the-numbers interactions that you’ll likely only enjoy because they’re there at all, not because they’re well-developed. That’s a shame; since Arambulo and Brown make a cute on-screen couple, it would have been way more interesting to follow that storyline as it develops in the shadow of Abbie’s new job.
Rules are inconvenient in Abbie’s world. It’s never clear how, for example, Roger’s victims are chosen from a Clover Hill yearbook. They just are, so he, and now Abbie, must follow through. It’s harder to overlook Sam’s occasional mention of her dead classmates, all of whom have been dispatched by Roger. Do the kids know about Roger’s video store? Doesn’t matter, nor does the movie have to go anywhere with suggestive comments like when Sam laments, “I can’t tell you how many funerals I’ve been to since freshman year.” That line seems to belong to another movie entirely, one with a richer subtext or maybe some flesh and blood protagonists.
“Bloody Axe Wound” has a lot of incidents and a clear idea of where its characters should end up, but not much style of its own or a knack for connecting one formulaic dot to the next. There are some decent gore effects and a few good throwaway jokes throughout, like when Roger’s mom pops up at the video store, as well as some amusing performances, especially Burke and Brown. You also get a lot of uninspired jokes and weak dialogue that hint at what should be funny or touching about any given situation. Abbie’s hesitation to kill her new friends could have been more compelling. Ditto watching her go through the motions of an adolescent romance, which is brand new to her and therefore should be worth digging deeper into.
Unfortunately, the makers of “Bloody Axe Wound” pull back every time Abbie’s story threatens to develop Abbie’s feelings. We don’t know what Roger’s video store means to her for the most part nor do we understand what she likes about Sam. It’s not hard to guess the answers to these unanswered questions—because her dad likes killing, and Abbie’s not her dad—but that doesn’t add much flavor to the movie’s lackluster comedy and reheated melodrama. A lot of false starts can be found throughout “Bloody Axe Wound,” some of which are obviously meant to keep the plot skipping by instead of offroading through darker territory. Some genre-affirming twists and tropes throughout hint at a sharper genre parody that happens to be about a sympathetic young heroine. This isn’t that kind of movie. Sometimes, it just looks like something better.
