Sadly Over-hyped

Good start, but then it gets ruined

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

This no-budget schlocker follows a group of criminals— two of them unabashed chauvinists — who murder two gay men and then take off into the countryside to hide from the police. They come across a rural farmhouse where a young woman lives with her mute paralyzed grandfather. Expecting Southern hospitality, they get a little more than they bargained for."Axe" (also known as "Lisa, Lisa") has been on my "must watch" list for years now, so I'm happy to have finally seen it. The plot here is nonessential; there really isn't a story to be told. Writer and director Frederick Friedel takes concepts from other indie schlock films of the era ("Last House on the Left" comes to mind, as well as "I Spit on Your Grave," though "Axe" predates it) and moulds them into a tight-knit mood piece that is engaging in spite of the fact that it really goes nowhere.There are few thrills to be had here and the unfolding of the skeletal narrative is lugubrious at best, but there is something to be said for the film's moody presentation. At times the cinematography evokes an almost documentary feel akin to Tobe Hooper's "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," and the languid farmhouse setting is quietly sinister. The characters are fairly one-dimensional; among the criminals are the two ruthless killers/chauvinists/rapists, and a sympathetic sidekick who actually possesses a conscience. The character of Lisa is inarguably the most ambiguous, lounging around the farm in a white prairie dress when she's not cutting herself in the bathroom or butchering chickens. The acting is sub-par but overall decent given the type of film this is.Maybe the strangest thing about it is how brisk it is. The film barely runs over an hour in length, and this fact paired with the loose narrative ends does give the sense of an underdeveloped concept, although the quirks that come with its underdevelopment are perhaps what make it most memorable. In spite of what the advertising would have you believe, the gore is minimal, but the film is appreciable on an aesthetic level— especially for genre fans who find the notion of an unhinged Laura Ingalls wielding a hatchet to be inexplicably fascinating. 7/10.

In its trailer, Axe promises to be another slice of rural American Gothic in the vein of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and Psycho (1960), but bears more of a resemblance to two other films on the final DPP list, The Last House on the Left (1972) and Fight for Your Life (1977). Unfortunately, and despite its claims to be as good as Chain Saw Massacre, Axe comes as a major disappointment. After watching Stephen Thrower's glowing review on the excellent DVD Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide, I was expecting a 'beautiful and well-made' little gem that could hold its own against Polanski's Repulsion (1965). I should have kept in mind that this is the guy who loves and defends Jess Franco movies. Far from being the 'well made and beautiful' art film Thrower would have us believe, Axe is a very poor movie in almost every respect. Its premise is familiar but has great potential: three low-life criminals on the run from the police hide out in the country farmhouse inhabited by a near-mute, neurotic girl and her invalid grandfather. Even before the criminals arrive it is clear that the girl, Lisa (Leslie Lee), is capable of extreme behaviour, which makes an inventive change from the usual, 'normal' household invaded by violent outsiders.However, this one spark of inspiration quickly becomes forgotten during the course of an incredibly plodding, amateurishly-made movie. Most of the blame lies with writer-director-editor Friedel, for whom this was clearly a labour of love. The script is weak, with bland, stereotypical bad guys and flat dialogue; the direction is hopeless with regards to telling the story and creating tension, while the editing only compounds the flaws in both of these departments. (The interminable opening and closing credits are a good indication of the film's deadly slow pacing.) Then there's the acting: Jack Canon comes off 'best' (a relative term) out of the three villains, playing the leader of the gang, while Friedel easily gives the movie's worst turn as Billy, the criminal with a conscience but an atrocious beard-and-hair combo. Even the actor playing Lisa's invalid grandfather gives a more emotive, engaging performance. Yes, Friedel is bested by a man playing a fully-paralysed mute. Lee, however, is surprisingly effective as the enigmatic Lisa, and it's a shame she didn't have a better script and director at her service. There is something in her performance that recalls Camille Keaton in I Spit on Your Grave (1978) or Zoe Tamerlis in Ms. 45 (1981), but unfortunately this film is far too weak to stand up against these superior movies.So why did this end up on the DPP list? As has been pointed out by others, one can only assume that the film's title and the misleading video sleeve were to blame, suggesting something along the lines of The Driller Killer (1979) or The Toolbox Murders (1977). It's unlikely that any of the film's few murder scenes would have made an impression on any of the MPs watching the Nasties compilation in the House of Commons, nor for that matter anyone renting this out in the hope of an evening's entertainment. As Thrower pointed out in his review, had the film been released under its original title, Lisa, Lisa, this probably wouldn't have come near the Video Nasties list; better still, it may never have come near my DVD player.Film: * (out of 5) Nastiness: * (out of 5)

After having seen a documentary on the producer Harry Novac,i decided to try one of his films that a friend of my dad had passed over and after finding out the the film was shot in eleven days i feel that while its a flawed film,i still found it to be a enjoyable small horror film.The plot: Three gangsters go to visit some guys that are overdue on their "payment",and when they realise that they are not going to get the payment,they decide to kill them.And after they have beaten up a shop assistant at a petal station,they think that it is best the they lay-low for a while in a remote farmhouse.And when they discover that they are not alone they get thrilled because they realise that they can keep the people (a young girl called Lisa and her very ill grandfather) as hostages.But none of them realise that Lisa has an axe,and the she has some plans of her own...View on the film: The film starred and was written and directed by Fredrick Rfriedel,one of the main things he did well was to keep the film to a very lean running time of sixty three minutes and also doing some good dark comedy in the first half(The gangsters doing their own "remake" of the William Tall opening titles with the petal station assistant)But the main thing that lets the film down are a weaker second half with a big plot-hole (In the whole film,none of them even try to keep Lisa hostage well at all) and the score sounds very out of placed and not mixed into the film at all the gives it an oil effect.Final view on the film: A really good lean fast-moving horror film,the is let down by a big plot hole and a very bad score.

LISA, LISA (aka AXE) is one of the 74 entries on the notorious video nasties list compiled in the UK by the DPP (now CPS) back in the 1980s.Whilst it is evidently one of the weaker entries on the list, it is definitely not the worst. It fares better than THE GHASTLY ONES and the absolutely dire SNUFF.The plot follows that of a typical exploitation movie from the 1970s period. Three gangsters break into a guy's apartment, murder him and his lover and then seek refuge at a farmhouse inhabited by a strange girl who hardly speaks. I'm sure you can work out the rest.The exceptionally short running time is perhaps the strongest point of this movie. In addition, a few good scenes stand out from an atmospheric point-of-view or an unintentional comical point-of-view.The producers of the movie were clearly inspired by Wes Craven's exploitation classic, THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. LISA, LISA is however, a much tamer movie as many who wrote on this comments page have already stated. The title, AXE, used as an alternative to the official LISA, LISA title is somewhat misleading. I won't give away spoilers as to why but you'll find out if you see the movie.The acting in this movie is quite bad but definitely not as bad as that exhibited in the movies of gore legend Herschell Gordon Lewis. A murder scene early in the movie was so badly acted and directed that I struggled not to laugh. Sadly the movie did not contain much else to provoke such laughter in the same manner as the HG Lewis movies, which were entertaining due to high levels of unintentional humour.On the subject of HG Lewis, viewers of this movie will see the inspiration taken from him with regard to gore. Sadly the gore-hounds will be disappointed with the results.The movie is shot on the usual grainy film stock seemingly reserved for its type. However, it lacks the documentary style that was used so perfectly in THE Texas CHAIN SAW MASSACRE and THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT.Whilst the movie has potential to be very creepy or exploitative, such potential is wasted by a combination of poor direction and a very flat acting performance from the lead actress, Leslie Lee. Much of the movie between the good scenes is very dull and can be something of an endurance exercise for less patient viewers.The lack of explanation of motives or reasoning of any kind may have worked excellently in THE Texas CHAIN SAW MASSACRE due to the testament of the movie's strength to horrify and shock, but simply does not work at all in LISA, LISA.Overall, this movie proved a disappointment. Exploitation fans will be disappointed by the tameness of the movie, whilst fans of the "so-bad-it's-good" movies will find few laughs or much else to entertain themselves with by seeing it. The movie adds nothing to either genre.I recommend this movie only to "completists" of video nasties or exploitation movies. Gorehounds should stick to HG Lewis movies. Exploitation fans should stick to THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE. Fans of the "so-bad-it's-good" movies would do better to see TROLL 2 again. And everyone else should stick to the well-established horror classics.