#Chadgetstheaxe

Written by: Travis Bible

Directed by: Travis Bible, Kemerton Hargrove 

Stars: Spencer Harrison Levin, Michael Bonini, Taneisha Figueroa, Cairo Spencer

Screener copy provided by PR Squad / The Horror Collective

With a title like #Chadsgetstheaxe you will probably be expecting something reasonably light-hearted and a fun - and in many ways you would be right. That's not to say there aren't some scares and shocks to enjoy as well.

The movie works in a similar vein to 2022s brilliant Deadstream - chuck some annoying, self-obsessed people into a dangerous situation and watch them suffer- but both played a lot for laughs as well as terror. Often 'horror-comedy' doesn't work brilliantly because the balance seems impossible to get right. But it IS well done here - maybe because the influencer/live streaming culture is so prominent in our lives these days...maybe because some people find their antics genuinely amusing and then the sadistic horror fans who want to see bad things happen to irritating people. 

Whatever your viewpoint you should find a good time with this film especially as the eerie events begin to ramp up and the characters as well as the audiences commenting are really not so sure whether this is a prank or something much much worse. In fact the audience within the audience element of the movie is just brilliantly observed and quite spot on. The comments veer from supportive to trolling to outright offensive and nasty and its representative of (sadly) a lot of online activity today.

The actors are just great - they really play the influencer roles to the absolute hilt and seem to be having a lot of fun going it. Spencer Harrison Levin in the title role gives it his all - Chad is annoying, fame hungry and in many respects stupid - but you also cant help but admire his audacious ambition. Michael Bonini is also good fun as Steve, a prankster who is suspect in a lot of the odd goings on and wish he had been featured a bit more. Taneisha Figueroa and Cairo Spencer play the adorable couple Jennifer and Jordan and have clear chemistry. The audience seem to be just as much, if not more invested in their love story as they do the expedition into the house of horrors! The ending goes for the jugular so to speak and I thought it was really creepy and fun. Some of the comments and viewpoints of fans and trolls as the credits roll are absolutely jawdropping but again....kind of representative of world we live in!

A great movie that I hope gets some serious attention. I'm looking forward to what Travis might have up his sleeve next! 

#Chadsgetstheaxe is coming out on major VOD and digital platforms on Sept. 1 - get your popcorn ready!