It's not a remake. It's not a sequel. It's not based on a Japanese one. This is what was on the cover of the DVD I picked up at my local Wal Mart when I saw this movie; available for a reasonable price ($5) and I HAD to pick this up. Now, I have heard of Hatchet but had never seen it, so on Halloween night me and the Mrs. decided to check this one out and what fun we had.
Hatchet begins like most old school horror movies with a group of people lost and looking for a way out, but they are stuck in a place where an old legend lives and is stalking them. In this case the place is New Orleans, where Ben (played by Joel David Moore) has come to party during Mardi Gras to forget about being dumped by his girlfriend. Getting sick of the party scene, Joel decides he wants to ride on a "haunted boat tour." He brings along his friend Marcus (Deon Richmond), they are joined by an elderly couple, a wanna be porn director with two of his girls and a girl named Marybeth (Tamara Feldman) who seems to have different motivations for going on the boat tour. After the boat crashes the group is stranded in the swamp where the legendary Victor Crowley stalks them and well, you know the rest.
Hatchet is the kind of movie you need to watch with a group of people with some snacks and drinks who want to have a good time watching a horror movie. There is plenty of blood and guts throughout and they are all done the old school way; not a lot of CGI here. I especially liked the head splitting scene where Crowley tears a head right in half! The scares are a plenty and the cast does a great job at being scared but the star of the movie is Kane Hodder, who plays the maniacal Victor Crowley. Hodder (who is most famous for playing Jason in the Friday the 13th movies) really brings the character to life and is legitimately scary. Kane has the size and presence to give Crowley that extra push to set him apart from other horror baddies. I liked the way he walked, he sort of staggered a little bit which tied in well with Crowley's backstory. There are plenty of nods to the slasher films of old and some self referential humor that hardcore horror fans will really like. Plus, cameos from some horror icons such as Robert Englund and Tony Todd (who's cameo is very funny). Hatchet is an old school American horror movie for old school american horror movie fans and couldn't have come at a better time (2007) where we had nothing but remakes, sequels and bad re-imaginings of Japanese films. I wouldn't go as far as to call Victor Crowley (hasn't the name Crowley been overused?) the next horror icon as some have, but I think he could be a character that would work for a cult like franchise. Now, I just need to see the sequels...
Thumbs Up.
Hatchet is the kind of movie you need to watch with a group of people with some snacks and drinks who want to have a good time watching a horror movie. There is plenty of blood and guts throughout and they are all done the old school way; not a lot of CGI here. I especially liked the head splitting scene where Crowley tears a head right in half! The scares are a plenty and the cast does a great job at being scared but the star of the movie is Kane Hodder, who plays the maniacal Victor Crowley. Hodder (who is most famous for playing Jason in the Friday the 13th movies) really brings the character to life and is legitimately scary. Kane has the size and presence to give Crowley that extra push to set him apart from other horror baddies. I liked the way he walked, he sort of staggered a little bit which tied in well with Crowley's backstory. There are plenty of nods to the slasher films of old and some self referential humor that hardcore horror fans will really like. Plus, cameos from some horror icons such as Robert Englund and Tony Todd (who's cameo is very funny). Hatchet is an old school American horror movie for old school american horror movie fans and couldn't have come at a better time (2007) where we had nothing but remakes, sequels and bad re-imaginings of Japanese films. I wouldn't go as far as to call Victor Crowley (hasn't the name Crowley been overused?) the next horror icon as some have, but I think he could be a character that would work for a cult like franchise. Now, I just need to see the sequels...
Thumbs Up.
No comments:
Post a Comment