The ax originally cleaved Donald O'Brien's head, not his chest. However, Joe d'Amato and some others then thought that it was too rough and looked too realistic, and so they re-filmed the scene. A still from the original scene has survived.
One of a cycle of "Mad Max"-type films which were labeled as rip-offs of "Mad Max 2" a.k.a. The Road Warrior (1981). These "Mad Max"-type films, many of them coming from Italy, included "Endgame" (Endgame - Bronx lotta finale (1983)), Stryker (1983), "Warlords of the 21st Century" a.k.a. Battletruck (1982), "1990: Bronx Warriors" (1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982)), "Escape from the Bronx" a.k.a. "Bronx Warriors 2" (Escape from the Bronx (1983)), "The New Barbarians" a.k.a. "Warriors of the Wasteland" (Warriors of the Wasteland (1983)), Steel Dawn (1987), "Exterminators of the Year 3000" (The Exterminators of the Year 3000 (1983)), and America 3000 (1986).