Axed

I'll start by talking about everything wrong with the film. Most noticeably, the lighting decisions are terrible. The bulk of the action takes place in one day, and it looks as if they shot everything in sequence over the course of two days, so that by the time it's supposed to be early afternoon in the film it is clearly approaching dusk outside. Then five minutes later it's clearly morning again, and it slowly gets dark once more. Then during the nighttime scenes there are moments that were obviously shot in sunlight. It's distractingly bad. It looks like they tried to do day for night but didn't know how. Additionally, the film is very ugly in that it looks like it was shot on a very low quality camera that has a look not fitting for the tone of the movie.

The cameraman did a good job with what he had to dork with, however. There are some fun shots in here and the editing is well done. The acting is hit-or-miss, with one or two miscast characters, but some of it is very good. The actor who plays the father in particular did an amazing job. Some of the best I've seen and very believable and a fun performance. Bang up job!

The story, while nothing spectacular, is surprisingly realistic given the budget and style of film. I was expecting something rather corny, but this feels pretty real. I believe it may have been inspired by one or two true stories, based on similarities to things I've read about.

The sound is not great but nothing to complain about. It's much better than in some of the very low budget films I've seen. But the lighting is some of the worst I've seen. The ending is very good.

Saw this at this year's Bram Stoker Film Festival where it played to a very receptive audience of horror movie fans and picked up the award for Best Screenplay.

Works well as a disturbing psycho-drama based around a man who loses his job and then his mind, much to the increasing horror of his family.

A great music score and moody cinematography helps to build the atmosphere.

Jonathan Hansler is the true star of the show here, obviously relishing the dark humour of his part as the dejected father with one last project to manage up his sleeve. Well it's certainly one way to downsize!

"Axed" is an absolute mess. While the premise is somewhat interesting and the film clearly tries to be shocking and impactful, it fails miserably on almost every level. The violence, though both physical and psychologically intense, becomes tedious and repetitive over time, losing any real effect it might have had. What's worse are the characters' decisions - so absurd and senseless that they shatter any attempt at immersion or emotional involvement. Instead of delivering a disturbing thriller, "Axed" ends up being a frustrating, painfully ineffective experience. A good idea wasted by poor execution, incoherent storytelling, and a complete lack of tension or depth.

Axed – TRASH IT (C-) Axed is about a crazy father, who thinks his family is ungrateful and its time to teach them a lesson. He takes his wife, son and daughter in the middle of nowhere and then the violence of a crazy demented father starts. I defiantly liked the story and that's the reason I decided to watch this but the movie is too long and too tedious. There are so many chances everyone to kill him they all leave him half alive for no reason to be attacked by him again. Performance by all crazy British cast is good at times and mediocre most of the times. There is nothing good about it. I wish I could say it's mediocre but it's not because it becomes unbearably boring towards the end. Trash it!

I gave this film a go and was so disappointed. The acting is so bad it's cringe-worthy. You just can't settle into the story and take it seriously. It is almost like the film was made 20 years ago with some guys they just plucked off the street. Shame, because I like to support British films - but this one sucked. In all respects give give the film a go, but be warned.

P.S. There also seem to be many fake reviews on Amazon giving it 4-5 stars, the accounts only review this one film - sounds like they tried to beef up the ratings because it is so bad. I have no idea what the budget was on this film but it was money down the drain.