Lisa, Lisa

"Lisa,Lisa" AKA "Axe" is a weird film to say the least.it a suspense thriller,guess.i think it's more a Gothic horror than any hing.it's not really terrifying,but there are a few images that will likely stick with you for awhile.this is really a minimalist film.there are only 5 main actors for the bulk of the movie and most of the movie takes place in one location.the budget is really low for this one,and for some reason, i find really fake looking blood more disturbing than if it's more realistic.i find it sicker,foe whatever reason.anyway,the movie,besides being a Gothic horror,is also very psychological.it's almost a character study of one girl,"Lisa""(Leslie Lee) and her inner demons.she is much more scary than the bad guys in the movie.Leslie Lee gives a very effective performance.the movie is not that long,but it is ponderously slow at times,where it seems very little is happening.this movie is not for those who like a lot happening in their movies.if you don't have a lot of patience,avoid this movie.i found it interesting,though very twisted.For me "Lisa,Lisa" is a 6/10

I saw the 64 mins version for the first time recently aft reading few glowing reviews.

Used to watch a lottuva horror movies on vhs during the late 80s n early 90s. This one got skipped.

Comparisons to Last House.. will crop up but apart from murderers taking asylum in an isolated house, this one is different but a bit boring inspite of being a relatively short film.

One of the best part is the cinematography, the rural isolation with the creepy farmhouse is well captured.

They shud have shown some background story about Lisa's psychology.

Can someone tell me who was the man trying to enter Lisa's farm but got chased away by the two murderers during the meal around 31st min.

Did Lisa informed the cops during their first visit or later after the two murders.

Why did the third bearded trespasser ran out after seeing the dead body in the chimney?

"Axe" is an oddball piece of work that seems to avoid a lot of the horror standards. The flow of the film has a refreshing feeling of randomness that makes it work. Not a lot is explained in this film so viewers are left to discuss the who, what and why amongst themselves and die hard 70's low budget sleaze fans might even try to pick out a story after repeated viewings. "Axe" is competently shot and edited. As an aficionado of 70's b movies I personally felt that it has a great look to it. An atmosphere of paranoid weirdness is developed early on and digs in on the viewer. The film also scores points for it's original soundtracking although the main hook from the intro theme gets a little over used at times. The acting is on par for the course, no remarkable talent here, but some cool characters. The one guy who looks like Bob Ross adds an interesting dynamic to the group of thugs, it's hard to figure out why exactly he's rolling with them. The girl who plays Lisa is rather pretty and her performance is effective enough to draw sympathy from the viewer during the more tense scenes.

Nothing mindblowing here, but fans of the era and genre who have a bit of patience will enjoy this one. Gore fanatics might feel cheated by Axe but lovers of strange "wtf is going on here" movies should give this one a swing.

Three gangsters commit murder, then take to the road where they end up at the farm of a disturbed young woman.

An effectively spooky character portrayal by Leslie Lee and some good filming locations, doesn't quite save this ultra low-budgeter from being an unsatisfying horror flick. While it does have the occasional moment of gore, Axe a.k.a. Lisa, Lisa makes for an uneven slasher film and is a bit too light on the violence to really be considered a true exploitation thriller. It's pretty much a mixed bag, that never really finds its effectiveness. The films choppy editing and stilted direction definitely takes away from it too.

So, all in all it's kind of hard to find a place for this weird B flick, the curious may find something of interest in it, but don't expect another Last House on the Left (1972).

* 1/2 out of ****

Axe (1974)

** (out of 4)

Extremely low-budget thriller about three crazy criminals who are on the run and decide to stop in at a farm house where they take things over. Lisa (Leslie Lee) stays at the house taking care of her paralyzed grandfather but the three criminals don't know what they've gotten themselves into.

AXE was released under countless titles back in the day when low-budget movies like this could play across the country on drive-in screens for years. At just 67 minutes there's really not too much plot wise as what we've basically got a mix between THE DESPERATE HOURS and THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. Even though this film got on the Video Nasties list it really isn't all that shocking, graphic or gross.

Again, there's really not too much here and there's really zero character development or any sort of story. The three criminals harass some people. They wind up at the house and you can guess what happens to them. Director Frederick R. Friedel isn't Stanley Kubrick but I thought he did an okay job with the material and at least tried to make it somewhat different than your run of the mill psycho movie. I thought the music score was rather effective and I liked that the director at least tried to create some stuff through the editing.

I also thought Lee was better than average in the lead. She really doesn't get too many lines and instead she goes around as the silent type but I thought she was effective enough. Jack Canon was also good as the criminal Steele. As I said, there's some minor gore footage but nothing all that believable. The highlight is the sequence where the criminals harass a store clerk and the "shot" joke was rather funny.

AXE certainly isn't a masterpiece or even a good movie but if you enjoy this type of low-budget stuff then there's certainly much worse out there.