Axe

aka Lisa, Lisa aka The Virgin Slaughter 1977 / Written and Directed by Frederick R. Friedel / Starring Lisa Lee, Jack Canon, Ray Green, and Frederick R. Friedel With the potential to be a classic Southern Gothic fable, Axe is a disappointing exercise in the genre without any compensative energy or innovation that – not only because of the sparse 68-minute runtime – leaves much to be desired. The plot surrounds three fugitives who hide out in a remote farmhouse inhabited by a mute wheelchair-bound old man and his granddaughter, take advantage of their hosts, and then pay the price for their bad behavior. Poorly shot, poorly dubbed, and extremely poorly edited, this disjointed work could have utilized its eerie setting as the centerpiece of a truly compelling revenge tale, or in the very least could’ve had the potential to be a masterwork of the Grindhouse era (but then where is my humor, speed, gratuitous violence and nudity?) Instead, jump cuts, bright red stage blood, yawn-inducing murder scenes and tedious pacing that makes the film seem twice as long all collaborate to sign the death certificate on this clunker. (no stars)