Taglines: The honeymoon was killer.
So I Married an Axe Murderer movie storyline. Charlie MacKenzie (Mike Myers) is a beat poet living in San Francisco, after having broken up with yet another woman based on paranoid perception. His friend Tony, a policeman, points out that Charlie simply is afraid of commitment and tries to think of or invent any reason to break up with someone.
Charlie encounters a butcher named Harriet (Nancy Travis), and the two quickly find common bonds between them. They start to date, and Charlie learns she used to live in Atlantic City, had been involved with a trainer in Russian martial arts, and screams at someone named Ralph in her sleep. After staying at her place one night, Charlie meets Harriet’s sister, Rose, who warns Charlie to be careful.
As they continue to see each other, Charlie and Harriet fall in love. He arranges a dinner with her to meet his parents, Stuart and May, who both believe in conspiracy theories and get their news from the Weekly World News tabloid. While there, Charlie spots one paper that describes the story about a “Mrs. X”, a bride who kills her husbands on their honeymoons using an axe, and matches all the mannerism that Harriet has shown.
Charlie becomes paranoid and asks Tony to investigate Harriet and the Mrs. X story. Tony reveals that the husbands of Mrs. X were all reported missing alongside their wives, assuring that Harriet is unlikely to be Mrs. X. Charlie remains on edge, and after a few more troubled dates, decides to break up with her. Tony later reports that a killer in the Mrs. X story has confessed. Relieved, Charlie apologizes to Harriet by reciting one of his beat poems to her from his rooftop. They make up, and Harriet explains away some of the confusion Charlie had from her history, such as Ralph being the name of a woman she knew.
Some time later, Charlie proposes to Harriet, which she reluctantly accepts after some hesitation and they arrange for a wedding in a secluded mountain hotel. After they depart, Tony learns that the confessed killer is actually a compulsive liar. He sends a photo of Harriet to the known associates of the missing husbands, and all report back that she was their friends’ wife. With phone lines to the hotel down, Tony charters a plane. Once he lands, he is able to call Charlie locally and warn him that Harriet is really Mrs. X, but the hotel phone line is knocked out and power is lost.
Charlie is panicked and tries to stay away from Harriet without letting her know what he knows, but the hotel staff force him into the honeymoon suite for their first night together. Charlie finds himself alone and discovers a “Dear Jane” letter, purportedly written by him, explaining his absence to Harriet. Suddenly, Rose appears wielding an ax.
Rose tells Charlie he was not supposed to find the letter, and reveals herself as the Mrs. X killer – she feels that Harriet’s husbands are taking her sister from her, and so killed them on their honeymoon night and leading Harriet to believe that each husband simply left her. Charlie begins a game of cat-and-mouse to stay away from Rose while waiting for the police to arrive.
So I Married an Axe Murderer is a 1993 American romantic black comedy film starring Mike Myers and Nancy Travis. Myers plays Charlie MacKenzie, a man afraid of commitment until he meets Harriet (Travis), who works at a butcher shop and may be a serial killer. In addition to playing the main character, Myers also plays Charlie’s father, Stuart.
This was Myers’ first film after achieving success in the Wayne’s World franchise and was not well received by most mainstream critics or at the box office, grossing a total of USD $11 million in North America, well below its $20 million budget.
So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)
Directed by: Thomas Schlamme
Starring: Mike Myers, Nancy Travis, Anthony LaPaglia, Amanda Plummer, Brenda Fricker, Matt Doherty, Charles Grodin, Debi Mazar, Steven Wright, Cintra Wilson
Screenplay by: Robbie Fox
Production Design by: John Graysmark
Cinematography by: Julio Macat
Film Editing by: Colleen Halsey, Richard Halsey
Costume Design by: Kimberly A. Tillman
Set Decoration by: Peg Cummings, Jim Poynter
Art Direction by: Michael Rizzo
Music by: Bruce Broughton
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for nudity, language and mock terror.
Distributed by: TriStar Pictures
Release Date: July 30, 1993
Hits: 66
