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Some films deserve to be approached with the expectation of being completely wowed by their genius. Other films, conversely, are simply made for the sake of having good old-fashioned brainless fun. I would assert that one approach is no better than the other, but some might disagree. In the case of the time-honored tradition of the slasher film, brainless fun is typically the name of the game. With the new slasher movie, Pickaxe from Wild Eye Releasing, we get a film that doesn’t do much to reinvent the wheel or challenge our intellect, but we do get a nice little slice of familiar slasher fun.
This one is about as typical as slasher films come, but honestly, that’s not a bad thing at all. Personally, and I’m sure many slash fanatics can relate, I find great comfort in a slice-n-dicer that hits all the expected marks. We have main characters who are well into adulthood playing teen types. We get all the expected archetypal characters: a promiscuous girl, a jock-type guy, a nerdy younger brother, a veteran police officer in a sleepy town with a dark past, a killer with a fascination with a specific outdoor tool. It’s all here. Is there nudity, you say? Well, yes, as a matter of fact.
Pickaxe is an onslaught of sexy sleaziness. It opens with a sex scene and it doesn’t seem to let up from there. There is a staggering amount of toplessness in this movie, so if you fancy yourself a fan of that, Pickaxe has what you’re looking for. There’s also a fair deal of crude humor, which certainly seems to carry the movie at times. Fans of slasher flicks that double as inappropriate comedies will enjoy what Pickaxe has to offer.
While the kill scenes aren’t particularly innovative, they’re heavy enough on the splatter factor to make them more than passable. Disappointingly, many of the kills feel the same, but I suppose it is hard to expand on the lethal capabilities of a pickaxe. That said, they’re often enough and bloody enough to make up for their lack of bravado. The finale is definitely worth the price of admission in terms of gory gags, which was a nice surprise.
Pickaxe is a satisfying film for horror fans looking to scratch their slasher itch. It’s gory, sexy, and very familiar. You could call it comfort food for sociopaths. It’s competently produced, has some fun horror alumni appearances from the likes of A. Michael Baldwin (Phantasm) and Tiffany Shepis (Tromeo and Juliet), it’s occasionally quite funny, and it has a nice short run time. Sure, it’s a total paint-by-numbers hack-em-up, but sometimes that’s just the medicine you need.
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