AX 'EM is not a good film by any stretch of the imagination, but it is unique and fascinating to experience. I don't mean watching it in the background while playing on your phone, but actually watching it with your full undivided attention. Non-existent lighting, middle school level special effects, horrible sound (you can hear the wind blowing against the microphone multiple times), no attempt at actual acting, a long scene of "yo mama" jokes (and not a one of them is funny), zero character development, zero gore, zero tits, boring kills, two scenes with a man playing with a clapperboard while standing directly behind the actors, confusing pacing and much more. I think the best way to relay the level of incompetence displayed in this film is that not once, but twice, you can hear the director yelling out instructions. Once at the end of a scene (at 14:41 on the DVD release) he clearly yells out "Cut!" The other time (1:01:39), before the scene starts he can be heard yelling out something like "Camera's ready" before the actors start moving.
When I first saw AX 'EM back around 2004 I remember really disliking it, but now as the years have moved on and my handsome brain has become even more handsome, I've found myself enjoying AX 'EM. I've probably seen it around 10 times and anytime I show it to new people, we have a blast. So, while it might not be a skillfully made movie...it is an entertaining film (to the right audience). Hell, any film with the classic pick-up line "You're so fine, I could kiss your daddy's ass." can't be all bad.
So, in summation, AX 'EM is a fucking dung beetle turd of a movie, but I'm glad it exists. Just like I'm glad dung beetles exist. They're so cute!
[Handsome writer hits Publish button on computer screen. As he stands up and walks away, the reader hears a voice yell "Cut!"]
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I did some research before sitting down to write this review and discovered a few interesting things. First off, AX 'EM (released on DVD in 2003) was originally released theatrically in Baltimore, Maryland in 1992 as THE WEEKEND IT LIVES. (No clue if it was the same 71-minute version or not.) Also found a newspaper ad for that release (see below) and an interview with director-actor-editor-producer Michael Mfume from 1992 claiming that during the making of this film he found a group of investors who put up "nearly $400,000". I'm completely flabbergasted by that statement. Is he saying the budget for this movie was $400,000? There's no way. I have a hard time believing it could even be $40,000! He also said it took him thirteen days to write the script. So that's implying there is a script? Really? I find that hard to believe also. An outline, yes. But script, no. If there is, my god, would I love to read it. He also states that he's written four other scripts.
