Ax 'Em
A slasher film re-edited into near-incoherence.
Ax 'Em, first called The Weekend It Lives, is a 1992 American slasher film directed by and starring Michael Mfume, the son of Congressman Kweisi Mfume. The plot involves friends at a remote cabin stalked by a killer. The film is often listed among the worst ever made, due to its complete technical collapse: much dialogue is inaudible, shots vary wildly in quality, and the editing is incoherent and disjointed.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Michael Mfume
- Cinematography
- Reggie Daniels
- Editing
- George Bolden
- Studio
- 2 Smooth Film Productions
- Distributor
- York Entertainment
- Released
- 29 January 1992, Baltimore
- Runtime
- 71 minutes
- Country
- United States
Facts from the source article.
Plot
In 1990, Mister Mason came home from his job, grabbed a shotgun, and shot his wife and two of his children dead. He then killed himself. His son, Harry Mason, who had a mental illness, was left alive. When the police showed up, Harry and the bodies of his siblings were gone. Fast forward to 2003. A college student named Michael takes his girlfriend Kea and a bunch of friends to his Granddad's cabin in the woods for the weekend. The group includes Kevin, Michelle, Tonya, Shawn and Erika, Tony and Kendra, and Rock and Nikki. Before they arrive, a grown-up Harry Mason breaks into the cabin and kills Granddad with an axe. The next day, the group shows up and nobody asks where Granddad is. That night around a campfire, Michael tells the Mason story. He says he was a childhood friend and neighbor of the Mason kids. Thirteen years earlier, during a search for Harry, Michael found the bodies of Harry's siblings set up in his own backyard. But when he ran to get his Granddad, the bodies had vanished. The next morning, three teenagers are late for a field trip. Their car runs out of gas. Sarah stays behind while Brian and Breakfast head into the woods. Breakfast gets a bad feeling and runs off. Brian keeps looking for a phone inside Harry's old house. Harry comes up behind him and smashes a rotary phone into his head. By nightfall, Harry stalks and chases Sarah, but she gets away. Back at Granddad's house, Rock and Tonya sneak off into the woods to have sex. Harry cuts Rock offscreen. They run back inside to warn everyone. Harry disables the cars, throws Brian's body through the front door, and bursts in to hack Shawn with a machete. The group scatters in different directions as Tonya gets hit in the head.
Production
Michael Mfume took on every major role for his film—writing, directing, producing, and starring—despite having no prior experience, industry connections, or production funds. He eventually raised $400,000 from investors and relied on family support: his mother handled craft services and his father contributed money. Shooting took place over 15 days across four months in Baltimore, at locations including Morgan State University, Ashburton, Walbrook Junction, and Druid Hill Park. The amateur cast consisted mainly of Mfume’s friends from Morgan State. Through John Singleton’s help, Mfume arranged meetings and screenings with Disney, Columbia Pictures, and Warner Bros. He once said, “When you think of horror films in the ’90s, you going to think of Michael Mfume.” Unable to find a distributor, the film had a brief 1992 theatrical run in Baltimore under its original title, The Weekend It Lives, before vanishing. In 2003, York Entertainment bought the home video rights and heavily re-edited the footage, cutting scenes and scrambling the order to create a straight horror film, which they renamed Ax ’Em. The original version had a comedic-horror parody tone, but it is unclear whether any prints of that cut survive.
Reception
Critical reception for Ax 'Em has been overwhelmingly negative. Beyond Hollywood called it 'one of the most visually atrocious films I’ve come across in a long, long time.' Something Awful gave it a rating of -48, commenting, 'How do you review a movie so unfit for public viewing that you can't even figure out any of the characters' names?' I-Mockery remarked, 'At the end of the credits, the word, "peace" is shown. Never have I seen a stronger case for war.' A contemporary review of the original release as The Weekend It Lives in The Baltimore Sun noted that the film initially showed some promise but that 'Once the killings begin, the movie ceases to generate much interest.'
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