Director Dillon Brown and the collective The Horror Dadz are preparing a found-footage slasher titled A Man in the Woods With an Axe. Early material and an official synopsis position the project as a meta take on 1980s-style woodsy slashers, mixing practical gore, dark comedy and slasher set-pieces.
What we know so far
- The film is described as a found-footage, meta slasher that initially presents itself one way before revealing different layers beneath the surface.
- Tonally, the project is being compared to a blend of classic 1980s slasher energy with offbeat, self-aware comedy and an escalating, unpredictable second half.
- Brown and his team filmed the movie around regular jobs, shooting on weekends on a reported budget of $10,000.
- Practical effects and gore are emphasized as a core element of the film’s appeal.
- Distribution has not yet been announced; the project is expected to be available to audiences “early next year.”
According to the filmmaker, the aim was to capture the fun and familiar tropes of 1980s woodsy slashers while also leaning into self-aware humor—keeping the laughs without sacrificing the practical FX carnage genre fans expect. First-look footage circulating from The Horror Dadz has drawn positive attention for its energy and indie grit.
The creative approach blends found-footage immediacy with meta commentary, positioning the film somewhere between straight horror and satirical play on genre conventions. Comparisons have been drawn to a range of titles that mix slasher sensibilities with unexpected tonal shifts and darkly comic beats.
With production completed under tight constraints and distribution still pending, the project is one to watch for fans of low-budget, practical-effects-driven horror. Keep an eye out for official release and distribution news as it becomes available.
Source: Dread Central