Horror Movie Review: Axemas (2017) & Axemas 2: Blood Slay (2018)

Written and directed by John Ward, Axemas and Axemas 2: Blood Slay are two festive horror shorts that I’ve decided to review together as one complete package. It works as they are directly linked and when put together, you get an hour-long film.

Axemas was released in 2017, and stars Ashley Campbell, John E Seymore, Dillon Weishuhn, Lindsey Cruz, Nathan Scott, and Kamiko Kawada. Three couples want to party and have got access to a storage facility after hours. Which would be a fine place to drink and have sex, except it’s also home to an axe-wielding killer Santa Claus. One with festive puns galore and a link to someone within the group.

It’s fun, even if there’s not a lot to it, but what do you expect with a 25-minute slasher short set at Christmas in a storage facility?

While there’s not a lot to say about Axemas, Axemas 2: Blood Slay is different. Not just longer at around 34 minutes, but with a more detailed story, improved characters, more gore, and a much more watchable villain.

Picking up one year after the events of the first Axemas, Sarah Caldwell (Ashley Campbell reprising her role) has struggled to get over the trauma of having all her friends murdered by a killer Santa. Not only does she see the killer everywhere she goes, but she now hates Christmas, and actively avoids dating.

She is encouraged to try and meet someone by her friend though, going to a bookstore where she runs into Eric (Ben Stobber). The pair hit it off, and end up going to dinner, where her past is revealed. A past that Eric takes in his stride as he is aware of who she is, after all, she was in the news. Yet, as kind as he is, there’s something not quite right about him.

They say lightning never strikes twice… They were wrong.

One year later, and Sarah is going to have to escape from the same storage facility in a fight for her life against an all-new killer Santa (the always excellent Drew Marvick), but this one isn’t alone.

Not just vastly superior story wise, but vastly superior when it comes to characters, comedy, horror, and everything else. Whereas Axemas was fun and fine, Axemas 2: Blood Slay is an absolute blast and a Christmas slasher everyone can enjoy. Hell, you don’t need to have seen Axemas to enjoy it, but it makes more sense if you do. Make this your own double-bill viewing like I did, it’s only an hour of your time and it’s worth it.

Now, it has to be noted that as of the time of this review Axemas 3: Santa Insane and Axemas 4: The Axemas Legacy are in pre-production but have been that way for a while. A 2020 Indiegogo campaign pulled in a couple thousand dollars but as of this date, no new film has materialised. Watch this space, it would be cool to see the series continue.