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Overall Rating : 8/10
Directed By : Adam Green
Joel David Moore (Grandma's Boy)
Tamara Feldman (Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay)
Deon Richmond (Scream 3)
Kane Hodder (Jason X)
Supplied By : Anchor Bay Entertainment
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : December. 11, 2007
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| PLOT When a group of New Orleans tourists take a cheesy haunted swamp tour, they slam face-first into the local legend of deformed madman Victor Crowley. What follows is a psycho spree of seat-jumping scares, eye- popping nudity, skull-splitting mayhem and beyond. |
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| THE REVIEW In HATCHET, in the midst of the yearly Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans many people from different walks of life have come to celebrate. One such person is Ben. Ben whom has recently broken up with his Girlfriend was convinced by a group of friends to come along with them to Mardi Gras. Ben really isn't enjoying himself all too much, as he explains that all of the girls there, do nothing but remind him of the girl that got a away. Ben finally convinces Marcus, one of his friends, that instead of partying they should go on a haunted swamp tour, lead by an incompetent tour guide named Shawn. Disregarding a warning from local alligator hunter Jack Cracker, Shawn begins the tour through the swamp, but it would be long before the others believe that he should have listened - because the head straight into danger. That danger has a name, and it's name is Victor Crowley a figure of a popular local legend Bullied and picked on by locals because of his deformed face, Victor was was closely sheltered for most of his life by his father - that is until tragedy struck. On one Halloween night, a group of teenagers decided to stop by and pick on Victor, and what they saw as a little fun, resulted in a fire that engulfed the Crowley home. The fire didn't initially take his life, however it was the effort made by Victor's father to save him that ultimately sealed his fate when he struck Victor in the face with a hatchet while attempting to break his way through the door. Believed to be dead, the story of Victor Crowley became that of a local phenomenon, and an urban legend used to scare kids, but what these tourists are about to find out, is that the legend is true. Soon the unsuspecting thrill seekers come face to face with Victor, whom has nothing but vengeance on his mind. First off, I have to add that HATCHET was one of those films I just couldn't wait to see, and prior to it's DVD release, I tried to gain a copy from anyone I could and was unsuccessful at doing so. The appeal? For one I am a huge fan of slasher films, and even though i'll check out just about any one that is thrown at me... I have to admit that not many in the last half decade has really "gotten me" So to get that form of enjoyment, you can usually find me digging through the slasher films of decades past - So when I for the first time, saw this film's tag line, which reads "Old School American Horror" - I was immediately intrigued to see it. The majority of the reviews that began come out for the film were positive(at least from the more credible people, so much in fact that I begun to question the film. Was hyping this film as a throwback to 80s Horror, and all of the hype in general a bit exaggerated, or was it all that everyone says it is? Well, the answer that, as far as my opinion goes is no, nothing about HATCHET's hype is undeserved - it really IS that good. It's true that at the beginning of this film, it felt just like any other Slasher film i'd watch, but it wasn't long before my feelings changed. Sure the story isn't all that original on it's own, as we do have a mentally derranged killer stalking people with big weapons - which leads to people dying in many different ways - and not only that, our main setting is a wooded area. All of this is familiar ground, but there is just something about HATCHET that stands out from today's Horror. Perhaps it's because it actually does what it set out to do, and that is to take us back to the days when Slashers were most dominant in the Horror genre. Many films to come out in recent years attempt to recreate this same feeling, but never fully fulfill their promise. In my opinion, HATCHET is one film that has done this most accurately, as I felt as if I was watching a film of the 80s - yes I know that the knowledge of knowing when HATCHET was shot takes a little away from it, but still you get the picture. When watching Victor Crowley, a deformed madman with hillbilly characteristics, rip his way through his victims in some of the most graphic ways I have ever seen, I couldn't help but think of one of my favorite Slasher films, MADMAN. Madman Mars from MADMAN and Victor Crowley share a lot of the same psychical characteristics, but those that may have thought Mars was a menacing villain, has yet to see Crowley. Victor Crowley truly has the dominating presence in which franchises are built around - is actions definitely demand your attention. We have seen Kane Hodder as Jason is 4 of the FRIDAY THE 13TH sequels, but this killer I found to be far more brutal in some strange way. Kane Hodder was the perfect choice for this role, as he always seems to have a knack for knowing what it takes to convey a character through only actions, without saying a word. OUTSIDE of the FRIDAY THE 13TH series, Hodder has had many different roles, most of which are forgettable, but this role has to be his best role since Jason. As for the other performances(which include cameos by Robert Englund and Tony Todd), I have read that some people believed the acting to be terrible, and I couldn't disagree more. I felt the acting was actually quite good by all, besides, when is the last time you've seen an Oscar winning performance in a Slasher film. Perfect acting isn't exactly required for a Slasher, to me a mixed performance adds to the realism - if you were being chased by a weapon wielding maniac, what you actually pause to articulate your reaction? Sure there are bad performances in these types of films - but I saw nothing terrible here. Here, Director Adam Green has carefully crafted a film, that is destined to be a Horror cult classic. You can tell that each shot was carefully planned and played out in Green's exact vision and I am willing to bet he wouldn't have settled for anything less than what he wanted. He is a visionary that has worked for years to get this project made and has had a passion for it - and that passion fully shows. HATCHET is definitely one of the best Slashers to be released in the last decade. |
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| GORE
METER 7/10 I won't elaborate on the gore much as some of it is quite surprising, and I don't want to ruin it for anyone. But I will say that the film is very creative and brutal when it comes to the gore department |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 6/10 The film's soundtrack fit it well, the film starts off with "This is the New Shit" by Marilyn Manson(which is an awesome song), while many pulse-pounding tunes accompany the chase scenes. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM As it turns out, hype for a film(or anything in general), can sometimes actually be legit, as is the case with HATCHET. It's inspired by many films, but has enough of it's own originality to stand on it's own (at least it isn't another remake). A lot of people are quick to say it rips off other films, but what they don't realize is that the similarities are nothing but an homage to the films that the Director loves, as Adam Green proves himself to be a true fan of the genre. I loved this film, just as many others have and i'm sure there will be many others out there that will as well. This DVD will be released on December 18, 2007 |
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