While thehorrorgenre has always been filled with terrifying scenes of people suffering while trying to overcome evil, it has historically emphasized the torment of women. Whether it be misogynistic portrayals or needlessly cruel moments, this medium that has long championed the stories of underprivileged groups rarely allows its women to thrive unless they fit into the perfect “final girl” persona — or it first shows them gruesomely suffering. It’s rare thata non-male protagonist is allowed to beat out their assailantswithout being angelically innocent or first undergoing some form of traumatizing torture, which is whyAxe, directed byFrederick R. Friedelis such an underappreciated gem. Released in 1974,this hidden classicshowed the story of a vicious, vengeful young woman ready to turn the tables on her attackers and it didn’t require drawn-out scenes of abuse to get there. It veered away from the norms of similarfilmsfrom that time (and many now) by stressing the severity of its protagonist’s situation beyond showcasing her pain in excessive detail, providing a version of bloody vengeance that many features today can learn from.
A young woman living in a secluded farmhouse with her paraplegic father defends herself against three criminals seeking refuge. Her battle for survival reveals her own brutal instincts as she turns the tables on her assailants.
Women’s Revenge Has a Long History in Horror
WhileAxeisn’t the only ’70s horror to focus on a woman taking revenge, it’s one of the very few that does so without multiple extensive moments of horrifically explicit torture. Sexual violence is often a core aspect of these stories; while each premise offers different inciting incidents and leads, the core plot of most early “female revenge” stories is a woman being assaulted brutally — often with every agonizing moment on full display — surviving, and returning ready to slay her attackers. Begun byWes Craven’s 1972 directorial debutTheLast House on the Left, replicated by the controversialI Spit on Your Grave,and continued by modern films likeRevengeandThe Nightingale,the “female revenge” subgenre has become a staple of horror. Still, the majority of these films don’t allow its central woman her moments of “badass” payback without first displaying in gory detail the unadulterated pain that led her there.
When utilized consciously by creators who understand their significance, sexual assault scenes can be extremely informative, demonstrating the real horrors experienced by people daily. But not only are these often called out for being exploitative — especially early ’70s and ’80s films that failed to portray the nuances of violence like this —many filmmakers seem to believe they’re a necessity for any movie that sees a complex women fight back.This is a huge restriction to place on women-centered storytelling because it implies that any story of a non-man taking vengeance must first be “justified” by first showing horrifying moments of gendered violence. There are many other films that benefit from their inclusion of these hard-to-watch scenes, but that doesn’t mean thateverystory of women’s vengeance must include scenes of some of the worst pains imaginable to be considered compelling.
Axeis a little-known member of the female revenge subgenre, with its initial premise bearing all the hallmarks of this horror niche. It focuses on a trio of misogynistic and violent criminals who, while fleeing from the police, stumble upon a farmhouse whose only occupants are a paralyzed grandfather and his caretaker and granddaughter, the beautiful Lisa (Leslie Lee). The men’s shifty eyes and inappropriate comments make it clear to viewers just what their intentions for Lisa are, a terrifying setup that usually precedes minutes of terrible violence that leads to the woman gathering the brutal strength to fight back — butAxedoesn’t do that. Rather,it introduces Lisa with an ominous aura of her own,the quiet way she’s shown butchering chickens and meticulously caring for her grandfather speaking to a deeper eeriness that is much more intriguing than the brash bigotry of these men. It does for her something that few'70s horror filmsdid for women:it paints her as a true threat from the start, granting her an intimidating aura that wasn’t “earned” by first showing drawn-out scenes of assault.
Ironically, despite having very few gore scenes and side-stepping the sexually terrifying moments of its contemporaries,Axewas barred from viewing for many years by being placed onthe UK’s ‘Video Nasty’ list.This was a list of films that government officials felt were too disturbing to broadcast, blaming these for the violent crimes of its citizens — rather than an individual’s psyche, or the social factors these politicians had direct control over. These officialsplayed up the movie’s few moments of violence, and they weren’t the only ones; the original title wasLisa, Lisa,a mysterious moniker that Friedel hoped would emphasize the subtle fear of its premise and that executives found not sensational enough for a horror feature. They traded it out forAxeto try and play up the scarier elements, and, in a strange metaphor, emphasized why it sticks out from other revenge horrors.
So many films that try to portray their women as anti-heroesonly do so by focusing on the horrific circumstances that set her on a quest for blood.While, of course,revenge requires some kind of terrible inciting incident,Axedoesn’t attempt to “justify” Lisa’s actions as she begins tearing through the threatening men by first showing a terrible abuse scene. The audience doesn’t need to see her explicit assault to explain why she must defend herself. Through subtle camerawork and the actress' ominous tendency to daydream about being doused in blood, the film immediately establishes the darkness within Lisa, not leaning on a moment of sexual assault to explain how she could retaliate in such a brutal fashion.
This Underrated Feminist Revenge Movie Is a Western ‘Kill Bill’
“There are no hard women, only soft men.”
As one of the men makes his malicious intent known by attacking her in the night, Lisa begins her bloody campaign, first slicing him apart the moment he touches her before doing the same to another in deeply unsettling scenes. It’s a shocking form of bloodshed that is born not only from the fear of these men but also Lisa’s own demons; these violent moments of vengeance are a deep-rooted instinct within the troubled woman rather than a derivative of the things done to her, giving more autonomy to her actions throughout the film.It presents her with a terrifying presence of her own, one that was just waiting to be released.
While Lisa’s actions are driven by a thirst for retribution, she, like so many other horror legends, has a dark intelligence that makes her ready (and thoroughly capable) to murder anyone who threatens her. It’s a harmful trend in cinema to believe that these kinds of heroicsare only possible for women if they’re first subjected to sexual assault or torture.These often unnecessary scenesundercut the triumphant femininity of their movie’s climaxby inadvertently owing the fierce determination of these women to the actions of men rather than her already-existing strength. And whileAxeis not perfect in its presentation, by refusing to focus so much of its story on trauma, it grants its main character a bloody agency that women in horror are too often stripped of.
In ‘Axe,’ Women’s Strength Doesn’t Require Pain
Horror has always been a medium used to talk about uncomfortable topics, using its inherent fear to discuss pressing social issues for generations beforeAxeever premiered. For many, the painful scenes of abuse that are featured in any female revenge films are necessary; if handled correctly, they can be a stark wake-up call for all those watching about how sadly common terrifying occurrences like these are. YetAxemakes it clear that, while they can benefit a story’s core themes,they should never be considered a necessity for every horror film that pits a woman against a group of disgusting attackers.InAxe, audiences see someone who inherently has an ominous strength, one that, like so many of the best horror protagonists, makes her ready to unleash brutal bloodshed on anyone foolish enough to mess with her. Modern fans are thrilledthat classics likeYou’re NextandReady or Nothave subverted traditional expectations by grounding their stories in women’s inherent strength rather than moments of misogynistic suffering in a great development for horror — a development thatAxe, and many movies like it, began more than 40 years ago.
