A weekend retreat at a remote cabin in the woods for a group of childhood pals turns into a terrifying fight for survival, as a former friend whose family was killed years earlier comes along looking for revenge.
Ax 'Em - The Weekend it Lives, 恶灵周末
USA
USA
Ax 'Em (1992) is a masterpiece for the following reasons:
-There’s a character named Breakfast.
-The audio is unintelligible.
-This film is directed by Michael “Mfumay” Mfume.
-In most scenes the music is so loud that you can’t even get an idea of what the characters are talking about
-Revolutionary use of long takes where the director makes the bold choice to not coordinate anyone or anything
-There’s a character named Breakfast.
-You can hear the director saying “cut” at certain points.
-The opening scene is is five minutes of a Yo Mamma contest.
-This was shot in 1992, but it looks like a lost relic of the 70’s.
-DJ Double-Cut Master Slice Em' Up-Dice Em' Up OG So Nice-J Nice could destroy Eminem's career if he wanted to.
-There is a real actual character named Breakfast
It's always nice to type a review here that has an interesting personal backstory and oh boy does this obscure film ever have one with me. It's pretty lengthy so I have to give that warning, but I hope you enjoy this if you read it in full.
Way back in the late 90's I got from a relative a bin of videotapes; it was a mix of things, including stuff taped off of HBO and Showtime in the 80's. It included a VHS of something called The Weekend It Lives. It was basically a student film from some people at Morgan State University, a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland. I basically got the bin as the relative had…
There’s a character in this movie named Breakfast.
So I was aware about the infamous reputation of this awful, awful film for several months now. God knows what must have been going through my head when I actually decided to sit down and watch it.
In Michael Mfume's Ax 'Em, a group of college friends from Baltimore, Maryland (consisting of DJ Slice 'Em Dice 'Em, Breakfast, and others) venture out for a weekend trip into the woods. However, they quickly find themselves stalked and picked off by a killer who wants revenge for the deaths of his family that his FATHER murdered. I'm not really sure how that works, but anything is possible I guess.
Now the "plot" here was somewhat sketchy. The opening crawl attempts to explain…
Special thanks to God
Ax'Em: the movie where somebody taking a piss is miked better than 70% of the dialogue.
I'd rather not be excessively mean, because it has the energy of a film that was put together by some friends who had access to the equipment, the desire to have some fun and... maybe... make a movie. I'm usually willing to cut energy and desire a substantial amount of slack, but you've got to give me something to work with.
Theoretically a slasher, Ax'Em is a showcase in unintentional abstract filmmaking. The audio is borderline incomprehensible, the video often appears unlit, there's too many characters to ever get attached to and the gore feels like an afterthought.
And if I'm going to be extremely pedantic, I don't think there's any actual axing going on. The killer generally employs a machete, as was the style at the time.
For once, a film that lives up to its reputation. Probably shown on a loop in hell.
2/10
Shoutout to @alexe295 for the request.
Thanks to Marcus from the Cosmonaut Variety Hour for introducing me to this film. In my Plan 9 From Outer Space review, I called Ax' Em the worst film that I've ever seen. However, on my re-watch, I felt more lenient towards it. It helps that the YouTube version is more audible than the copy I originally saw. The saving grace of this film is its dialogue (the few lines that you can actually hear), which can be funny. But Ax 'Em still is one of the most incompetent and unprofessional films I have ever seen.
The film was originally made as a parody horror flick called The Weekend It Lives, but it…
A group of Morgan State students head into the sticks for the weekend, but the maniacal son of a family slain a decade prior spoils their frivolity.
Right away it's obvious something isn't right with this Baltimorean schlock other than ineptness. Available only in a distributor recut, there's little to gauge director Michael Mfume's real intentions. Butchery so drastic that segments—even varying shot-to-shot—appear from VHS while others crisp 16mm. So vast the difference, the tape footage resembles an almost inaudible workprint (or rehearsals?) used due to lack of better elements. Other changes include a new score, non-period hip-hop tracks, and text prologue with grammatical gaffs.
Given this situation, it's difficult to totally cast off Ax 'Em. The film-sourced material has…
a timely reminder that it's probably not a good idea to edit a movie while on crystal meth
Hooptober VII: Horror Fanatics are such Easy Prey
Considered the worst horror film ever made and I can see why. Characters so paper thin I don’t think they even have names, sound editing is horrendous with the soundtrack being louder than the dialogue, the same boring kill over and over, never once is it funny though it tries to be, it drags, it’s definitely a terrible film. But I still find Night of Horror to be far worse. Better luck next time Ax ‘em!
The movie peaked with the opening credit yo mamma jokes.
It's hard to hate/critique and film like Ax 'Em, when every single fucking aspect of it is piss poor. I'm talking about inconsistent audio mixing/recordings, pixels of video presentation, and terrible acting/writing. Only ONE scene shows promise, and it's in black-and-white.
Otherwise, this can either be partially enjoyed as a hilariously bad horror flick, or a plain bad one.
