Axeman (film)

Plot

In a cabin by Cutter's Creek, three bank robbers are murdered by an axe-wielding mountain man. Later, a group of friends, led by Brian, are brought to the same cabin by a guide, who is apprehensive about being in the area. After settling in, Brian mentions that the reason he got the cabin for such a low price is because it supposedly once belonged to a family that was massacred by the Axeman, an unidentified serial killer whose reign of terror ended as mysteriously as it started. When the discussion concludes, Randy goes off to spy on Vivian, and is murdered by the Axeman, who rips his head off.

The next morning, Doug gets into an argument with his girlfriend, Cassidy, accusing her of still having feelings for her ex, Brian, who is now dating Cassidy's best friend, Stacy. Doug storms off into the woods, where he stumbles onto the money that the bank robbers stole. While looking for somewhere to hide the cash, Doug is impaled and dismembered by the Axeman, his death going unnoticed by his friends, who are searching for Randy. Everyone soon regroups at the cabin, and Cassidy, unsatisfied with every explanation that they can come up with for why Randy, and now Doug, are gone, leaves to continue searching for them alone.

Tammy enters the garage, where she uncovers the robbers' money, and is forced to hide when the Axeman enters with her girlfriend, Liz, who he has fatally wounded. Before he can finish Liz off, the Axeman is distracted by a knock on the door, and answers it to reveal it is the sheriff, who he identifies himself to as "Bill". Annoyed by the sheriff's abrasive attitude and persistent questioning, Bill twists her head around, and returns to the garage, just as Tammy exits it with Liz. Liz succumbs to her injuries, and Tammy is strangled by Bill, who also bites off and eats her cheeks.

Returning to the cabin, Bill rips Brian's brain out, knifes Vivian in the eye, beats Darren nearly to death, and chases Stacy through the property, catching and stabbing her when she trips over Cassidy's body. In the morning, the hungover Deputy Whitfield ventures to the cabin in search of the sheriff, and finds Darren, who begs her for help. Before Darren can elaborate on what happened, Bill attacks him and Whitfield.

Cast

Reception

Bloody Disgusting panned the film overall, criticizing the script for not delving into the reasons that the titular Axeman was killing people, as this would give the film more depth and differentiate it from multiple similarly plotted films. Theron Moore of Horror News praised the film's villain and kills, but criticized the glacial pace, uninteresting subplots, stiff acting, and two-dimensional dialogue and writing. Ain't It Cool News gave a mostly favorable review for Axeman, commenting that while the movie was not "reinventing the slasher genre" it "does feel like a throwback to a time when the slashers weren't so passé."

Sequel

A sequel is currently underway, titled Axeman 2: Overkill. Principal photography was scheduled to begin in September 2014 and the film had a tentative release date of 2015. Wrestler Bryan Clark will replace Scot Pollard as the titular character and the film will be directed by Joston Theney.