Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan
July 13, 2013
By Kevin Hyde
July 12, 2013
Filmmaker Jeff Miller is having quite a year. The Columbia native and University of South Carolina graduate who made low-budget yet memorable horror movies in the Midlands before moving to Los Angeles 12 years ago is getting great reviews and widespread attention for his monster flick, Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan, which he co-wrote and produced.
After several screenings across the country, including a South Carolina preview at the Nickelodeon Theater in June, Axe Giant is now chopping along on the Syfy Channel, with the next showing tomorrow (Saturday, July 13) at 1 p.m. The movie is scheduled to play again August 17 at 5 p.m.
Now all of us can splash around in the gory fun that is this frikkin’ movie, proclaimed reviewer Ambush Bug at the popular website Ain’t It Cool News.
Also this past week, Axe Giant opened in most of the ubiquitous Redbox locations around the country. It is also available at Blockbuster and Family Video, and is for sale on Amazon.com and most other DVD retailers. (Check out the film’s official website for more information).
Axe Giant tells the true story of American folk legend Paul Bunyan, the giant whose axe carved the Grand Canyon. Miller says he was sitting in a Los Angeles coffee shop brainstorming ideas for a new screenplay when a question percolated: Why do people think Paul Bunyan is so friendly?
I mean, here’s this giant guy who walks around carrying an axe, Miller says. There could be some sinister backstory there.
Miller’s first draft of Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan, which initially was titled Bunyan (title change later done at the suggestion of the Syfy Channel), emerged soon after. In the movie, a group of troubled young adults undergoing a first-time offenders’ boot camp in the woods discover that the legend of the giant lumberjack is real. And he is rather pissed off.
The film, which features some truly inspired casting with Joe Estevez (brother of Martin Sheen) and Dan Haggerty of TV’s Grizzly Adams fame, won the 2012 Audience Award for Best Picture at Shockfest, a Hollywood film festival highlighting the horror genre. The movie also won an award for Best Writing at the fest and was an official selection at the Motor City Nightmares and Texas Frightmare Weekend conventions this past spring before its theatrical run in select cities.
What’s next for Jeff Miller?
I’m helping produce a cool lighthouse ghost story for a director friend of mine, he says. I do like lighthouses, and the location on the central California coast is breathtaking.
The movie is Edgar Allan Poe’s Lighthouse Keeper. Miller says principal photography for the feature is complete, and it is currently in post-production.
South Carolina has great locations and great people as well, says Miller. Hopefully I can return to make another movie there before long.
Kevin Hyde is a freelance writer who has worked as a reporter for daily and weekly newspapers, edited regional and national magazines, written on pop culture for an international newspaper as well as several local, alternative newspapers. He can be reached at [email protected].
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