HATCHET (2007) ***
The poster for this movie proudly proclaims “Not a sequel. Not a remake. Not based on a Japanese one. Old school American horror.” And yes, it is refreshing in this day and age to see an original straightforward slasher film that pays homage to what’s come before it, and isn’t a remake or have a number at the end of the title.
Kane (Jason) Hodder stars as the maniacal Victor Crowley, a deformed killer who lives in the
The movie is pretty much a wall to wall gorefest with the spectacular effects provided by the great John Carl Buechler (who also directed Hodder in Friday the 13th Part 7). Guts are ripped out, arms are torn off, spines are plunked out, and bodies get ripped in two (and that’s just the first scene). Despite the title, only one person gets cut to ribbons with Victor’s trusty hatchet. It seems that
Director Adam Green clearly shows a lot of love for the genre and crafts an entertaining, if one-note horror flick. Slasher movie fans will have fun picking out references to other horror flicks (
Even though it suffers from some annoying characters (like the two Girls Gone Wild wannabes) and a complete non-ending, Hatchet has enough (intentional) humor and paint-the-room-red blood and guts to make any horror fan sit up and take notice. Besides, any movie that features Candyman, Jason, AND Freddy is automatically worth a look in my book.
Moore (who will play the lead in James Cameron’s next flick Avatar) gets the movie’s best line: “Every hot, half naked chick I see reminds me of Christine.”