AXE
(1977)
THE ELECTRIC CHAIR (1972)
Directed by Frederick R. Friedel/J.G.
"Pat" Patterson, Jr.
Something Weird DVD
Reviewed 02.16.05
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba
THE FILMS
A word of advice before proceeding.
If your week has been cloudy, then
I'd suggest putting off a viewing
of this pseudo-grit, true-crime
deuce. The good Dr. Gore has bookended
his masterpiece with a couple of
360s; the daffodils are not singing,
but that doesn't mean all is lost.
J.G. "Pat" Patterson,
Jr. is an overlooked, but important
cog in the annals of cheap exploitation
films. It's that simple. Aside from
concocting the absolute brilliance
of Doctor
Gore, ex-spook show magician
Patterson also worked closely with
guys like H.G. Lewis, William Girdler,
and Donn Davison; kind of a trash
film handyman, but usually renowned
for his fantastic trick shop gore
effects. And his behemoth comb-over.
Presented for your magnifying glass
are two regional obscurities culled
from the strands of J.G. himself:
Frederick Friedel's Axe,
a simple-minded little gem in which
Patterson dons the producer's hat,
and The Electric Chair,
a choppy misfire that marks J.G.'s
debut as a filmmaker. Now bring
your voice down to a whisper as
we tiptoe up the steps of the old
farmhouse...
Steele, Billy, and Lomax, apparently
on the run for bank robbery, beat
a man to death and watch his gay
lover jump out of a window. We don't
find out why. The sirens blare,
so it's off to the pavement. Deciding
that a hiding place is needed, they
scope out an old house in the middle
of nowhere, but not before terrorizing
a convenience store clerk and roughing
the place up. The hoods take off
to the farmhouse, so we meet timid
Lisa and her paralyzed grandfather.
Naturally, being savages and all,
Steele and Lomax treat their "hosts"
like garbage; demanding meals, waving
guns, and leering at Lisa like there's
no tomorrow. But when Lomax attempts
to rape Lisa in the middle of the
night, a straight razor proves there's
more than demure stares in store
for the nasty gunmen.
Seemingly coming out of nowhere,
Axe aka Lisa, Lisa
shines like the grimy nugget it
was meant to be. Since the plot
is so straight-up and we never get
much exposition (what you see is
what you get), the success of the
film lies in its musty, off-kilter
brevity. Director Friedel (he of
Kidnapped Coed) houses
the whole 68 minutes with an overabundance
of close-ups, a lack of dialogue,
a detached conga/synth soundtrack,
and editing that's just barely hanging
on. The closed-in nature of the
farmhouse only enhances those elements.
As a result, we're left with a violent
and mysterious slice of realism,
tied up with a hefty dose of dirty
tension. Smartly, the film never
offends, despite the subject matter.
Although fake blood saturates quite
a bit of screen time, that watchability
is what kept me enthralled. As with
any low budget obscurity, the poor
acting chops sometimes broke the
wall (mostly whenever Leslie Lee
as Lisa opened her mouth), but didn't
detract enough to affect the mood
for long. Axe was sparse,
bleak, and real...a great example
of low-budget brackets working as
an advantage, rather than a detractor.
As we hand the directing reins to
Pat Patterson, know this: you're
about to get depressed. As The
Electric Chair opens, we learn
that a grisly murder has been perpetrated
on a pair of midnight-lane lovers.
Flashing back, the film unfolds
in a sort of z-rate, fake documentary
style. Reverend Moss and clergy
member Marilyn Howard have been
indulging in an affair. Both are
sexually and personally frustrated
with their spouses, a frigid vamp
and a bloated sweat-hog, respectively.
After embarking on light-psych rock
picnics in the park and gleeful
love-letter exchanges, the two meet
their bloody demise. Ripped out
tongues and gun shots to the head.
The cops aren't sure what's what;
was the murderer that crazy bible
thumper, Mose Cooper (Pat Patterson
himself, comb over in extreme effect)?
Or maybe the shifty "Crazy"
Billy, with his mammoth bowl-cut?
That's the first 40 minutes. Pat
should have wrapped it up there.
Poorly contrasted with hilarious,
badly acted characters and a dead
serious tone, The Electric Chair
chalks up a "nice try,"
but not much else. In fact, the
general aura is so downbeat and
depressing that it was next to impossible
to get through the remaining 40
minutes of legal mumbo-jumbo after
my initial burst of interest. Granted,
Mr. Patterson has filled this confusing
oddity with some amazing mugs (the
defense attorney, the always-touching-his-face
police chief) and fantastic technical
goofs (heads often cut off in shots,
close-ups of armpits, flubbed lines),
but nothing works as a whole to
produce an enjoyable experience.
I'll say this though: those electric
chair scenes, while completely tame,
were total anxiety-inducers...Strangely
well done in a film that flails
endlessly. And what was with that
sudden insert of the blaxploitation
nightclub/striptease act?! I give
up.
Ironically, The Electric Chair
ran in exactly the opposite direction
of Axe: low budget gone
bad. Since growing dreary, I've
made an appointment with my good
friend Dr. Gore. He's got the remedy.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Perhaps echoing the success of the
films themselves, the presentation
here is like night and day. Axe
looks beautiful, a full frame print
with lots of gritty grain, bright
colors, and a definite lack of damage.
The look is high contrast and slightly
shimmery, with just a hair of compression
artifacting if you look close enough.
Do I even need to mention the mono
sound? It fit the picture perfectly.
The Electric Chair looked
closer in print quality to an old
VHS. Washed out colors, a soft image,
and a little bit of damage here
and there. The mono sound was heavy
on the bass and quite muffled at
times. No doubt due to the original
recording.
EXTRAS
Solid fun. Included are eleven trailers,
including three for Axe
under different titles (none for
The Electric Chair). Most
interesting is the Axe
spot under the name The Virgin
Slaughter, in which a twitchy
narrator tries to pass the film
off as some sort of psychic-sex
romp. The marvels of drive-in hucks
never cease. The other trailers
are carried over from Something
Weird's The Child disc,
all Harry Novak distros that run
the gamut from horror to sleaze-sex
to softcore. Next up is an eight
minute gallery of exploitation ad
mats with radio spot accompaniment.
This was a new one for me, as it
doesn't appear to have been held
over from any other discs. Lots
of juicy posters for stuff like
Moonshiner's Woman and
Nest Of The Cuckoo Bird.
Up next are two brief shorts; a
twelve minute PSA called "Mental
Health: Keeping Mentally Fit"
and a bizarre four minute burlesque
short called "We Still Don’t
Believe It". The first short
offers up three rules for perfect
mental health: don't bottle up your
emotions, feel right about yourself,
and feel right about others. Voila,
you’re cured. The striptease
short features a sword-swallowing
woman perusing a sword museum. Every
time she eats a sword (ugh), a piece
of clothing pops off. Pop!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Axe is a definite keeper.
The Electric Chair is clearly
avoidable. I wouldn't make a mad
dash to add this pairing to your
collection, but Axe will
be worth your time once you get
around to it. |
Cold Lisa
Grandfather sees it
Mr. Bubbles
Moppin' up
Stand by your man
The tryst
Mr. Patterson
|
