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DAY OF THE AX III: BLOODLETTING
Produced, Edited, Photographed, and Directed by Ryan Cavalline
Written by Ronald Damien Malfi and Dominic GuerieriJ.R. Sorg - Shawn Meyer
Janice - Angie Guido
Hal - Adam Berosi
Troy - Edward BenevichI've said it before, and I'll say it again. Ryan Cavalline is getting better with every film and he is almost to the point where he might even consider moving out of the amateur horror realm to try his hand at turning out something more professional. His newest production, DAY OF THE AX III: BLOODLETTING, illustrates another step in the natural evolution of a filmmaker and the chances he needs to take when turning out a fresh entry into what would otherwise be a tired slice-and-dice film series.
DAY OF THE AX was a short film that was originally part of the EVIL TALES anthology series released by Cavalline's 4th Floor Pictures. Being an homage to films like HALLOWEEN, the DAY OF THE AX was an exceptional exercise in tone and atmosphere. DAY OF THE AX 2 was an expansion upon the first film. What the movie lacked in the acting department, it made up in visual style. By breaking the action down into its essential movements, the murderous acts became a mosaic-like deconstruction of the slasher subgenre.
This time around, Cavalline, with the help of his writing partners at Tunnel Vision Entertainment, goes a step farther. By removing the slasher, J.R. Sorg, away from the primary action, Cavalline creates a quietly brilliant, yet detached, modernist horror opus that avoids the post-modernist trappings of self-referential humor found in the SCREAM series.
The story revolves around Janice, a young college student writing a thesis on Sorg. She's given a video on Sorg to study by her professor, a man who shares Janice's morbid fascination with Sorg. The tape provides third person perspectives from those whose lives were directly intertwined with Sorg's. It's these bits of narrative exposition that turn the film on its ear. Gone are the thrills of the hunt and the exhilaration of the kills found in most horror films. Instead, the audience is treated to emotionally resonate musings by those who knew him best, perhaps even better than his doctors.
Any sympathy for Sorg is made short with the intercutting of scenes from his latest rampage. The result is unsettling and wholly disturbing. Any emotional connections between the viewer and Sorg are torn asunder, like a baby ripped from its mother's womb, leaving the viewer emotionally hollow and drained.
Since when are slasher films supposed to play the higher realm of emotions? Good slashers are roller coasters of suspense and fright, but never complex dramas about love, sympathy, and forgiveness. By transcending the genre, Cavalline makes his best film to date.
In supporting roles, look for Scream Queens Tina Krause and Lilith Stabs, as well as HELLINGER director Max Cerchi. All three turn in some of their most accomplished acting to date, especially Krause as Sorg's lover from his days back in the asylum. Playing her part completely detached from reality, she shows a range that I've only seen from her once, in BLOOD FOR THE MUSE.
Now, if only I could convince Cavalline to cast the rest of his film with professionals…