Karl the Butcher vs Axe

Fourth in this shot-on-video German gore series from director Andreas Schnaas. Karl the Butcher (Schnaas) is released from hell by the devil and sent to a futuristic wasteland where he is to kill Axe (co-director Timo Rose). The place is filled with warring gangs and, naturally, our two titular characters team up after briefly scuffling. But this is no TANGO & CASH (1989). This is really rough stuff and a huge step back for Schnaas. I can hear you saying, "What did you expect?" but Schnaas had been proving himself of making "decent" SOV flicks. I lay a lot of the blame at the feet of Timo Rose, who is always working in goofy sound effects in his own productions and does that here. There is very little style to the film and the set design lives up to the term threadbare as most sets involve a room with sheets hung on the walls. There is the requisite over-the-top gore, but it almost becomes boring after the fourth or fifth decapitation.