Ax 'Em

Ax 'Em

DVD released by York Entertainment
Directed by Michael Mfume
Produced by Michael Mfume
Written by Michael Mfume
Starring Michael Mfume
Cinematography Reggie Daniels
Edited by George Bolden
Production
company
2 Smooth Film Productions
Distributed by York Entertainment
Release dates
Running time
 71 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Ax 'Em (originally titled The Weekend It Lives) is a 1992 American horror film directed by Michael Mfume, the son of Kweisi Mfume.[1] The film follows a group of teenagers on a weekend retreat at a remote cabin in the woods who become the targets of a crazed killer.

Plot

Years ago Harry Mason's (Archie Williams) father brutally killed his entire family. He decapitated his wife Grace (Dana Chesnut), stabbed his daughter Becky (Christina Mathers), and shot Harry. Harry's body was never found. Flash forward to the present, where fourteen of Harry's now-teenaged childhood friends decide to get together for a weekend retreat in the forest. What they're unaware of is that Harry didn't die, but is actually wandering the forest with the intent to murder all of his friends. The friends arrive at the cabin late in the day, and Harry is seen watching them from the woods. After the friends unpack, Erika (Kristine Louisa) wanders into the woods and has her head crushed between two rocks by Harry. Her girlfriend, Rhea (Tracy Wiggs), goes to look for her, and Harry skewers her. Later, Shawn (Greg Jones) and Tonya (Kelci Jeter) have sex at the base of a hill. Harry cuts down a tree on the hill so that it crushes Shawn and Tonya dead.

Tony (Joe Clair) tries to seduce Kendra (Racquel Price), but she is already dating Kevin (Fredrick Montgomery). Meanwhile, Kea (Sandra Pulley) goes skinny dipping and Harry enters the water unbeknownst to her, and stabs and drowns Kea. Michael (Michael Mfume), Kea's boyfriend, enters the woods to look for her. He happens upon her dead body and tries to run, but Harry appears and fires arrows into Michael's torso until he collapses dead. Back at the cabin, Nikki (Maria Copper) breaks up with Terry (D-Taylor Murphy). Kevin is then seen cheating on Kendra with Nikki. Meanwhile, Sarah (Julia Gorin) teases and bullies Kendra and Tony. When Brian (Thomas Hunt), Sarah's boyfriend, refuses to have unprotected sex, Sarah dumps Brian and has sex with Blake (Chris Gatewood). However, Nikki soon also has sex with Blake. When Sarah finds out, she and Nikki fight, and Sarah forces Nikki to leave. Nikki storms into the woods and is stalked by Harry. Eventually, Harry chases her down and stabs her to death.

Tony and Kevin also fight over Kendra, and she and Kevin end up breaking up. Blake and Brian take a walk into the woods. Brian beats up Blake for having sex with Sarah, and returns to the cabin, leaving Blake in the forest. Kevin tries to seduce Sarah, but she rejects him. Terry goes outside to smoke a cigarette, and Harry attacks him. Sarah and Brian get back together after Brian tells her that he beat up Blake. Kevin decides to leave and heads to one of the group's trucks. However, when he starts the truck, blood pours out of the hood. Kevin opens the hood to find Blake's dead body tied up inside, meaning that he was bound inside the engine and was electrocuted when the truck started. Kevin tries to run, but the killer slits his throat with a fishing hook. Kendra investigates, but finds the bodies gone.

Tony and Kendra get together and make out, while Brian agrees to have sex without a condom with Sarah. Afterwards, he finds Terry's severed head in a cupboard. When Brian inspects a bloody machete he finds on the ground, Harry attacks him and shoves the machete into his face, killing him. Sarah comes downstairs to look for Brian, and Harry strings her up and gouges out her eyes before gutting her. The next morning, Tony and Kendra go into the woods to search for their friends and find a tarp with the dead bodies of Erika, Rhea, Shawn, Tonya, Kea, Michael, Nikki, Terry, Blake, Kevin, Brian and Sarah. Harry then attacks Tony and Kendra. They flee into the woods and get split up. Tony hears Kendra screaming and finds Harry dismembering her. After a long chase, Tony tries to escape in a motorboat, but Harry jumps onto the back of the boat. Tony manages to kill Harry by shoving him into the boat's propeller, but crashes into the shore and is seemingly killed.

However, in a post-credits scene, Tony is seen at the hospital. He is then visited by his mother, Amanda (Jessica Fields). It is revealed that Amanda is Grace's sister and that Harry was Tony's cousin. Tony is then wheeled into the operating room for surgery. However, the surgeon is Harry, who stabs him to death with a scalpel. It is then revealed that Tony's death sequence was just a hallucination he had while on anesthetic.

Cast

Reception

Critical reception for Ax 'Em has been overwhelmingly negative and Beyond Hollywood opined that the film was "one of the most visually atrocious films I’ve come across in a long, long time."[2] Something Awful panned the film and gave it a rating of - 48, commenting "How do you review a movie so unfit for public viewing that you can't even figure out any of the characters' names?"[3] I-Mockery criticized the film heavily in one of their movie spotlights, remarking "At the end of the credits, the word, “peace” is shown. Never have I seen a stronger case for war."[4] The Baltimore Sun was slightly more positive in its review, commenting that the film initially showed some promise but that "Once the killings begin, the movie ceases to generate much interest."[5]

References

  1. ↑ Corey, Mary. "'It Lives' or dies tonight for young Mfume". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  2. ↑ "Ax 'Em (2002) Movie Review". Beyond Hollywood. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  3. ↑ "Ax' Em (review)". Something Awful. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  4. ↑ "Spooky Movie Spotlight: Ax' Em". I-Mockery. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  5. ↑ Hunter, Stephen. "Mfume's 'It Lives' shows promise until killing starts". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 30 December 2013.

External links

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