THE RETURN OF THE AX (DAY OF THE AX 3 -BLOODLETTING)

by Ryan Cavalline

On a sunny day, back in the middle of now where, I find myself in the mix of another crazy day of shooting. As I look around, I see that I'm surrounded by my script supervisior, two actors, and a stripper, who is more then willing to get started. Some would say this is a beautiful way to start a production but, for me its a nightmare. Two hours of shooting and another half hour of a stripper rubbing herself for the the camera and I'm ready for a cold beer. This is the beginning of the production known as "DAY OF THE AX 3 -BLOODLETTING-" The third installment in the Ax trilogy.

Two months earlier, I had the insane idea of doing the third Ax movie. Fresh off of my latest flick "SHUDDER" some would think I would take a break or some time off. No... not me. Its time to bring the Ax swinging crazy man known as J.R. back to life for one more round. So, I emailed my buddies at Tunnel Vision Entertainment and we start juggling some ideas around for the script. Finally, after awhile of talking things over, the script was done. Let me just say that the scirpt was the best slasher script I've read in long time. The sad part is that we could only shoot about 60% of it. The rest had to be dropped or twiztid around. Thats how it goes when you are a low budget movie maker. The script is the blue print. Time and money will always change your blue print.

The origional "DAY OF THE AXE" was shot in 1999. It was a basic ten minute short and that was the end of it. About a year later we had the stuppid idea of making another one. The sequel was just something we slapped together. It didn't have a plot or any dialoge. In my eyes, it was just another version of the first one but, this one was longer. So, when it came time to do the third one, we knew we had to do soemthing worth wild. We had a real script written and now we needed to bring it to life.

Shooting took around four monthes. Most of the shooting took place on weekends or late at night during the week. We had plenty of blood, guts, and nudity in this one. What we needed were a few well known B-Movie actors to do cameos. So, again I was off emailing. I was very suprised of all of the respones we got. The beautiful and talented Tina Krause does a cameo. We also got the talented Lilith Stabs to take part. Well, known B-Movie actors Phil Herman from Falcon Video and Massimiliano (MAX) Cerchi from Rounds Entertainment came aboard also and did a kick ass job. The usaully 4th Floor crew also jump in. Shawn Meyer playes our serial killer J.R. Sorg. Angie Guideo (SHUDDER) also takes part in one of the major roles. A few new 4th Floor faces take part in the slaugher. Adam Berosi, Edward Benevich, and Eric Lang bring a new scary look to the Ax movie.

Shooting finally ends and I have one hell of a editing job to start. Hours upon hours of editing take place. Problem after problem comes up and I'm ready to throw the whole thing right out the damn window. DotA3 is loaded with tons of digital of effects and thats what really took the longest time. Digital effects is a new area for us here a the 4th Floor but, we were more then willing to learn it. Four weeks later and the flick is done with editing. The computer effects are added along with the music scores. Finally DotA3 is seeing the light of day.

J.R. Sorg (serial killer) is a character, I really enjoy working with. Most would say, he is a homepage to the Halloween movies and I would agree. DotA3 is a combination of movies. Its got a little of Silence of the Lambs, Blair Witch Project, Halloween, and a little bit of Evil Dead in it. This slasher is way different then your typcial slasher flick. The origional "DAY OF THE AXE" was very moody and the audience really didn't know who the killer was. By the time you get to the third part in a series like this, you can just throw that idea out the window. By know your audience knows who the killer is. So, where do you go from here to make it fun and scary? You make a slasher flick with a little cartoon flavor to it. J.R. is still cuting and slicing up his victums but, there is more action and a lot more fun going on. The mood and atmosphere are not as intense as in the first one. Still, this story was based on the orginal Ax short that was done awhile back. So, get ready for another killing spree. The ax has returned.