Sneak Peek Preview: Axemas

Ah me, the demanding life of a film reviewer.  Hey folk, welcome back to the blog.   So thanks to Dustin Ferguson and the Nemesis 5 review, a colleague and friend of Dustin's asked if I could give his film a viewing while he is already working on the sequel.  Now how can I ignore that level of hard work, am I right? Today's film belongs to director/writer/producer/actor John Ward (Chapman's Storage: Fake Commercial, Axemas, Frames of Fear 2, and pre-production of Meathook Massacre 4 and post-production of Axmas 2: Blood Slay). His film is clearly part of a segmented five-part film highlighting five separate directors. This is Axemas.

I'm no doctor but you might want that sucking chest wound looked at.

Our opening title cards is followed by a mild xylophone playing as we look at a storage unit being broken into by a bad boy on the naughty list. Our thief (Tommy Sihavong of Axemas and Frames of Fear 2) didn't hear sleigh bells ringing and tingling but hears something metal being drug across the concrete. Naughty or nice, our thief is ready to defend himself and his ill-gotten gains when "Santa" pitches him in the storage unit, closes the door and we hear the thief's screams and that same ripsaw going to work. Yeah that may have even grossed out Rick and Billy of Silent Night, Deadly Night 1 and 2.  The irony of this comment I wrote, is there are two off-camera characters are named Rick and Billy.

A simple fade to black (don't start quoting the song), brings us to a kid on the phone bored out of his skull, calling buddies over to party the night away.  When you think about it, clean up will be a breeze, cans will go to recycling and hopefully they aren't using other people furniture to make out and screw. Oh man, they are totally going to use that furniture, aren't they?

A planned get together will lock the place down at 11 and apparently no major security with exception of cameras on the outside of the building.  Hopefully at least a security guard and a dog?

David (Dillon Wieshuhn of Daywalker: Blade Origins, Axemas, Drug Z and Amygdala Warrior) has the keys to the castle...well the storage place and invites his friends and girlfriend over for some Christmas cheer, in the form of booze and partying.

"Santa" and his magic murder bag, dripping of blood from now we can assume chopped up thief parts are probably making their way to disposal of the body.

Psst, let's go rattle the walls. Hmm? Ya feel me?

The storage center overall looks to be almost two, maybe three blocks in length so our young couples are looking forward to a bit of fun, drink and some of each other later.  Guys, honestly rent a couple of hotel rooms.   Maybe get a cabin for the weekend.  They're pretty reasonable rates if you book months in advance.

As the kids explore the massive maze that is the center, somewhere in this huge complex is a blood spattered Santa (John E. Seymore of Water in the Bay, Tangled 8, Blessid, The Weed Detective, Drug Z and Frames of Fear 2 )creepily singing to himself, enjoying some cookies in his chair when he hears a few giggles from the girls and guys.  Not wanting his festivities to come to an end, Santa decides to look on these boys and girls. And THANK YOU for not revealing Santa's face prematurely!

Seriously I cannot thank John Ward enough to make the proper decision to keep our killer's face concealed. Maybe he enjoyed the original Black Christmas. God knows you can't sit through the remake.

Our couples along with David and Sarah (Ashley Campbell of Atelophobia, Guard Dog, Designated, Unwritten, Atelophobia: Chapter 2 and Alien Domicile ) are Chuck (Nathan Scott of The Weed Detective, Drug Z and Frames of Fear 2) and Liz (Lindsey Cruz of Atelophobia, Rust, Rust 2, The Radiant One, Atelophobia: Chapter 2 and Drug Z) and Lee (Mikey Anthony O' Brien of Drug Z, Frames of Fear 2 and Alice) and Linnea (Kamiko Kawada of Shadows, Not a Care in the World, Into Paradise and Frames of Fear 2)

The party starts winding down and Chuck and Liz go off to find their own locker to get busy.   Don't blame them.  Probably had to see white folk dance.   Trust me, I'm white and it bugs the crap out of me to see that gyrating mess.

One by One, Santa's coming for you all. He's checking his list and scratching off those bad kids.

Can they flee to save themselves? Does one of these units belong to a paranoid NRA gun nut?

Ah mistaken for firewood.  It happens.

Okay on technical lighting choices and the fact I have rented a storage unit before, they cannot actually have the lights off in sections. With that comment out of the way, the less lighting actually makes the film look creepy. With more shadows to work with, sounds being amplified by the doors and walls of corrugated steel, would confuse the hell out of anyone without a proper sense of direction or carrying a compass.

The subtle touches with the music played VST (Virtual Studio Technology. Yeah I am becoming an audiophile.) giving synthesizer and sound effects at the ready for editing is a Indie budgeted director's dream come true. Good mood setting, easy story to bring more into it, decent gore effects and props, I think we got a budding director that simply needs a bit more funding behind him and he'll spatter the walls with some real nasty effects. Ward has suspense building, decent tension build up and proper music stingers.

Cranking out at 25 minutes, the tone was set, characters are in place and giving decent performances. This is part of an anthology set (A collection of short stories) showcasing multiple talents and different directorial styles.

I honestly think with a bit more of a longer script and maybe two or three more cast members, you could make a gore fest but I like the more subtle encounters. This isn't that typical overblown Hollywood Hack'em up with far too many jump scares, one dimensional characters and far over the top gore effects.

Now yes, you can argue well they didn't have the length of time as a standard gallon of gore of at least 75 to 90 minutes of bad CGI penetration shots or CGI blood gags.

Ward could buy that software for editing but I prefer the cut scenes with the aftermath established. It provides a better visual and the death grimaces on your actors will always look nastier.

Had some influence from the first Silent Night, Deadly Night and Halloween 2 to it.  Nothing wrong with that at all.

An old recipe of horror elements, teens doing dumb things and the enraged psycho made this a fun viewing. Personally, I hope to see more of what John Ward and his crew have to offer.

Don't think even the Ice Cream Bunny will work with Santa now.