Edge of the Axe (1988) - I've forgotten it already

It’s only been a few days since I watched 'Edge of the Axe' and, believe it or not, I’ve already forgotten most of it.  Not that there was much of a plot to begin with - it's effectively a cheap 'Friday 13th' rip-off, complete with masked serial killer.  The fact that I had to look up a plot summary just to write this says a lot about just how unremarkable this late 80s slasher really is. On paper, it has adequate ingredients: a masked killer, small-town characters who are oblivious to the menace among them and a - semi - mystery whodunit element. But in practice, it never sticks.

It just feels so dated, even for 1988.  By this point, slashers had been around for nearly a decade, yet this one feels like it’s some sort of cheap prototype for the 'Jason' movies.  There are better in the eighties and many even made during the seventies.  Even lower tier slasher films like 'Black Christmas'  is better, let alone the classics like 'Halloween.' Any of them give us more atmosphere, more gore and more well-rounded, even likable characters. Compared to that, 'Edge of the Axe' feels flat, with its characters mostly existing as completely unlikable fodder for the killer.

The kills themselves are nothing special, so if you're hoping for either some creative or gory deaths, you won't find any here.  Plus the pacing drags and the reveal of the murderer doesn’t add much weight. It’s not terrible, but it’s the kind of slasher you watch once, shrug then forget about almost immediately—which is exactly what happened to me.

4/10