Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan

At the start, a grotesque axe-wielding man bursts from the trees and mows down the workers in a brutal, unflinching display of primal danger. The foreman falls to a lethal strike from a circular saw, leaving a stark, silent aftermath. Snow and silence settle over the log site as the threat recedes into the woods.

Five young first-time offenders—Marty, Trish, Zack, Rosa, and CB—are taken into the woods for a week-long rehabilitation excursion led by Sergeant A. Hoke and a stern guidance counselor. The campers sleep in tents while the adults occupy the cabin, establishing a tense power dynamic. A local hermit’s intrusion hints at a local lore that bleeds into their fate.

Gunnar Bunyan emerges from the nearby woods and calmly kills a grizzly, skinning and cleaning the carcass with ritual-like precision. The display marks Bunyan as a larger-than-life presence who will shadow the youths’ voyage with dread. This grotesque efficiency foreshadows the danger to come.

Back at the camp, the local hermit Meeks appears uninvited and is driven off by Hoke. The unsettling encounter hints at a lore-filled history of the place that bleeds into the campers’ fate. The warning flavor foreshadows the way myths might become deadly.

The following morning, Hoke leads the youths on a grueling trek through the challenging woods. The rugged journey tests their endurance and resilience, laying the groundwork for claustrophobic tension. The group’s dynamics begin to fracture under the strain.

At a rest stop, Zack uncovers the skeleton of Babe’s ox protruding from the ground and pockets a horn as a souvenir. Bunyan later visits the site and discovers the missing horn, which triggers a furious reaction that hints at a tragic local history. The horn becomes a focal symbol of their peril.

Martin and Zack continue passing the horn, a gust ruffles it and exposes the campers’ location to Bunyan. The looming threat closes in as Bunyan starts his deadly advance toward Trish and the group. Tension tightens around the camp.

In a brutal assault, Bunyan splits Trish in two and then bisects Hoke, though his axe lodges in a tree long enough to give the survivors a narrow chance to flee back to the cabin. Bunyan then drags their van away, stranding the campers. The attack marks a turning point, revealing the reach of the killer.

Bunyan returns with renewed fury, dragging Rosa out to slam her against a tree and kill her in a near-ritual fashion. The group scrambles for safety, retreating toward Bunyan’s cave as the danger intensifies. The woods’ silence becomes a drumbeat of approaching doom.

CB’s father, the local sheriff, is summoned for a bear sighting but arrives to find the body of Hoke instead, signaling the escalation of violence in the area. The community begins to realize the predator stalking the woods is not a mere legend. The discovery raises the stakes for everyone.

The sheriff arrives and shoots Bunyan with tranquilizer darts, finally incapacitating him. The quiet seems to steady the mounting terror, but it’s only a temporary lull. The hermit Meeks reappears, waiting in the shadows.

Meeks reemerges from the shadows, raising the others at gunpoint in a tense standoff and defending Bunyan. He shoots Martin, but Bunyan comes to life again and decapitates Meeks, ending the hermit's uneasy alliance. The group is left to confront the hunter on their own.

The surviving trio—Sheriff, CB, and Ms. K—are driven toward a footbridge over a river, where a posse of local hunters joins the pursuit. Gunfire erupts as Bunyan closes in, turning the chase into a life-or-death sprint. The woods release their hold as Bunyan collapses into the river’s cold current.