Everyone has their guilty pleasures. Mine are a handful of 80s and 90s comedies that might not ultimately make anyone's top 10 films list (or even top 100), but for me they work either because of a strong performance, a clever idea well-executed, or simply a goodly amount of eminently quotable lines. So I Married an Axe Murderer qualifies on all three levels.
Remember when Mike Myers was actually funny? Oh sure, I like him as the voice of Shrek, and Austin Powers is usually good for a few giggles, but c'mon, The Love Guru? What was he thinking? Axe Murderer takes us back to Myers in his post-SNL prime. It's loaded with Scottish accents and one-liners that are actually funny, as well as the self-indulgent multiple role-playing which didn't work as well in the later Austin Powers films but works just fine here. Of particular note are the zingers that Myers' character Charlie MacKenzie's Scottish father (also played by Myers) hurls at Charlie's younger brother, blessed with a larger than average noggin: "it's like a planetoid…" "it has its own weather system…", etc.
Don't be frightened away by the title -- this is by no means a horror film, or even a remotely scary one. One of the contributors toward its PG-13 rating is "mock terror" (the other two are language and brief nudity). It's safe for the older kids and perfectly fine for those of you who can't stand scary movies.
The Picture
The film's 1.85:1 1080p AVC-encoded transfer will fit your widescreen HDTV with just the tiniest of black strips at the top and bottom. Considering its relatively low budget, the film looks perfectly fine on Blu-ray and will be a nice upgrade if you own the DVD version. Flesh tones are accurate and blacks are stable and deep. The transfer does have some mild noise and overall lacks the pop and three-dimensionality of a top-notch modern transfer but really, is that necessary for a film like this? As with the medical procession, "First Do No Harm," and no harm has come to this film in its transfer to Blu-ray, and that's all I can ask.
The Sound
I actually liked the film's music enough to buy the soundtrack on CD back when the film first came out. With tracks from The Spin Doctors, Soul Asylum, Toad the Wet Sprocket, and Ned's Atomic Dustbin, the soundtrack screams 90's pop. And these songs as well as the plentiful dialog are captured extremely well by the Blu-ray Disc's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack. Sure it's "only" a 48 KHz, 16-bit recording but the lossless TrueHD treatment makes for a pleasant auditory experience. Bass is extended but not overpowering, and the surround channels are infrequently active, but again, overall, the audio treatment is just peachy.
The Extras
Sony Pictures could have spent a little more effort on the supplemental material. All you'll find is a clip from "Men in Black" as well as a standard link to the Sony BD-Live portal, but no title-specific BD-Live content. Boo.
Final Thoughts
For fans of Mike Myers or fans of offbeat comedies in general, So I Married an Axe Murderer is worth checking out and the Blu-ray Disc offers a welcome upgrade in picture quality over the previous version on DVD. It would have been nice of Sony to offer some bonus material, but even without it the Blu-ray is worth a look and a listen.
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