‘The Axe Murders of Villisca’ is a ghost story based on the house where the notorious and still unsolved 1912 axe murders took place. Three outcast teenagers break into the house in search of answers, but discover something far beyond their worst fears.
The Axe Murders of Villisca (2016)
Director: Tony E. Valenzuela
Writer: Kevin Abrams, Owen Egerton
County: USA
Language: English (Spanish sub)
Gernre: Horror
Duration: 78 min
Year: 2016
Stars: Robert Adamson, Jarrett Sleeper, Alex Frnka
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From Imdb User
I’m what I like to call your average movie goer. I don’t have high expectations but I like my films to follow a realistic path with plausible situations and outcomes.
First off, I applaud that this is based off a true murder that took place in the early 20th century. But that’s about where it ends. From some pretty horrible acting to weird casting choices (a pretty old guy playing a high school kid), to a girl whose lips are so pumped full of collagen its distracting…this film started off bad right away.
I did find it refreshing that the main character was gay, or bi. That became a flaw in the script later when the main girl character kept coming onto him and then there was a kiss for whatever reason. I just didn’t understand that. And some hidden love between the two guy characters that didn’t play out well. It felt like the script was originally written for heterosexual characters but somewhere someone said…”hey, lets make him gay” but didn’t correct the remaining script. I also didn’t like the stereotypical situation of the new girl in town being slut shamed for having sex on a video that is circulating the halls months later. (How many times have we seen this?) And then this film opens in June but then the school year starts and then all of a sudden is October to coincide with some Halloween decorations in the school hallway?
Moving onto the plot. There was just WAY too much going on with characters and their backstories that it detracted from the ghost story of what really took place during the so-called ax murders from 1912. It seemed the kids would get possessed randomly by I guess a mirror reflection..but they would all be coming in and out of possession. Pair this with the characters own tragic stories…..I really have no idea what was going on. What we are left with are characters running around trying to kill each other but dealing with their own demons. You didn’t even have the gore satisfaction of a horror movie as all the bludgeoning took place off screen.
The good things in this film was a cameo by Conchatta Ferrell (you’ll know who she is when you see her) and it was filmed well. By that I mean the production value was high enough it didn’t look like a terrible independent student film.
I say pass on this unless you really have nothing else to watch. I give it 4 **** only because they took a risk by having the lead be a gay man…even if it didn’t make much sense later in the script.
