As Social Media ages past the 2000s, when it begins, it will morph into a farcical mess. There have been several films that have alluded to this situation. Still, no one quite revels in it the way Travis Bible and Kemerton Hargrove do with their satirical slasher flick, #ChadGetsTheAxe. A lunatic twist on the Found footage horror film, #ChadGetsTheAxe summons forth all the ridiculous, inane, scuzzy, and bawdy elements of social media influencers and their pandering methods of acquiring and retaining viewership. While allowing viewer comments to manifest on the film has happened before, here we see the full savagery and debauchery, to say nothing of prurient perverseness that emanates from these anonymous internet creatures who get their jollies watching idiots hurt themselves for their viewing pleasure.
#ChadGetsTheAxe started out life as a short in 2019, and it shows. The three years between its short and enlarged versions demonstrate the meticulous amount of time Bible and Hargrove had to really delve into this scenario. The finished product, an 83-minute farce of found footage/slasher horror, is a demented trip into the mind space of people who stream the stupid stunts they pull for ‘views,’ which translates to money for them. In this iteration of a streaming video gone wrong, Spicy Steve (Michael Bonini) has dragged the titular Chad (Spencer Harrison Levin) and Spennifer – Spencer and Jennifer (Cameron Vitosh and Taneisha Figuera respectively) to his small town in Louisiana to investigate The Devils Manor. The so-called Devil’s Manor was the location where a Satanic Cult had committed many murders. Expecting the premises to be long abandoned, the streamers descend upon the Devils Manor and commit all manner of deranged acts in the musty, presumably empty Mansion.

“…the streamers descend upon the Devils Manor and commit all manner of deranged acts in the musty, presumably empty Mansion.”
From showing off Spencer’s abs to placing a hat on a corpse, there is nothing these tools won’t do for their ever-expanding reach to viewers on their stream. Reflexively, the viewers’ requests became more dangerous and demanding. The larger the pool of viewers becomes, the more outrageous the demands and the greater revulsion and vitriol the viewers experience.
And then the axe murders begin. Whereas most such films would play the jump scare to maximize the terror in us, the spectators, here the influencers and viewers, become objects of mockery. As these tremendous dodos try to piece together the incredulous reveal that there exists a murderous spirit with an axe, the found footage quality of this film becomes more starkly apparent as streams end angled at the ceiling, floor, and other places an influencer would never want their stream. Sociologically, streamers are the new form of gladiatorial bloodsport. They will literally do anything for views.
#ChadGetsTheAxe being a found footage film concerning streamers, is of the low-quality video footage expected on all social media networks. The shaky cam game is strong with this film, and the video footage is reminiscent of television video standards with zero film grain. This adds credence to the notion that these four dimbulbs are about to receive the end they all so richly deserve. There’s nothing more annoying, gentle readers, than a damn streaming media influencer. I have taken great pains to keep them out of the Franz house. #ChadGetsTheAxe demonstrates why. Seek this out if you want to dip your toe into the waters of slasher horror but don’t want a supremely scary one. Travis Bible has done a great service presenting a film where many comeuppances occur.