PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Slashers are among the most popular subgenre in horror and have been for decades. Even when a particular franchise gets long in the tooth, there’s always some fun to be had in the formula of blood, babes, and a psychotic killer. Axegrinder is an independent slasher franchise that started in 2006. Now, twenty years later, the release of Axegrinder 7: New Blood is upon us. Let’s see how this film stacks up to its predecessors.
Axegrinder 7: New Blood is written and directed by Will Collazo (Amityville Shark House 2023). It stars Mel Heflin (Ssssstoner Snake 2025) as Tara, Cody Tudor (Cheerleader Camp Elimination 2025) as Dax, and Ralph Rey (Psycho Night 2025) as the antagonistic Freddy Palmer. When a medical facility accidentally revives the clown-masked killer, Freddy returns to the warpath on a hunt for violent kills.
Two of the workers from the facility put aside their contentious chemistry to tail Freddy and try to stop the pile of bodies from building. At the same time, fresh potential victims arrive in Axegrinder 7: New Blood, as six friends go away to an Airbnb that Freddy tracks down. You can immediately see that the film team behind Cult Cinema really loves the subgenre and builds their film around the tenants of the classic slasher. Horny youths pairing off, a lively party, and a masked killer who revels in violence.
From the subtitle of “New Blood” (ala Friday The 13th VII: The New Blood, read our review here) to the medical escape (ala Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers), the emphasis in the writing goes toward getting Freddy Palmer heralded as a new household name in horror. Freddy even has his own opening title theme (that’ll surely stick with you after the credits roll). It really feels like Rey enjoys donning the mask and choreographing the chaos as well.
The Airbnb makes a good setting for tension and individual room isolation, and the possibility of collusion and a grander plan hints that Axegrinder 7: New Blood may not be the last that we see of Freddy Palmer. Follow Cult Cinema LLC on Facebook to keep up with the many films that they are producing in the future.
