Looking Back at the Original
I very much enjoyed
‘Hatchet’ Adam Green’s 2006 homage to the slashers of the '80s. My immense
enjoyment came from being such a fanboy sucker for the sub-genre especially
from this era. Essentially, it is a film made by a fan for the fans with very
little outside appeal to mainstream audiences. That being said it has divided
the horror community.
One side embraces the movie
as they appreciate that it caters specifically to their simple tastes in
wanting a good time hack n’ slash fest. It has a hideously deformed brutal
maniac killer in the form of Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder), likable kooky
characters for his victims with campy acting from the cast delivering humour that
works, well executed goretastic set-pieces showcasing practical special make-up
effects with no CGI in sight and has gratuitous female nudity. Completely
turned off the other side criticize it for being more of a spoof of slasher films
from the sub-genre’s 80’s heyday rather than an affectionate love letter to it
patronizing its audience with Green all too aware of its clichés but instead of
avoiding them and trying to do something different puts emphasis upon them. A negative
view only escalated by the ramming down our throats of the smug advertising
campaign with taglines such as “Old
school American Horror”, “Terror Goes
Old School” and “It's not a remake.
It's not a sequel. And it's not based on a Japanese one.” Yeah okay, Adam,
we get it we do not need it spelled out for us as we can make up our own minds
as to what it is we are actually watching.
The writer and
director’s mistake was his approach in promoting his movie this way as
ultimately it is a horror comedy and not a horror that just so happens to have
humour (see Fright Night (1985) and the Differences Between Horror Comedy and Horror with Humour) with this false advertising building it up to be more than what it
actually is which is a solid comedic slasher. I feel Adam Green did not go
out of his way to make it scary but just funny and gory. Most slasher films of
the 80’s were serious in tone and while I disagree with his detractors as I
believe Green was paying homage to a beloved misspent youth watching
slasherthons with a comical play on its clichés it really does not feel like
many 80’s slashers. I think he was looking at a couple of main influences when
harking back to the sub-genre’s said era with cult movies like 1982’s Madman (its antagonist Madman Marz
certainly inspired Crowley’s look) and later in the decade with the outright
slasher horror comedy ‘Slaughterhouse’ (1987).
The taglines just did not
serve the film well at all and the consequences of which resulted in severe
overhype. This is a shame because I think it works effectively as a horror
comedy even when the brilliance of John Carl Buechler’s SFX make-up work is on
display as it is all so ludicrously over the top it induces laughter as well as
jaws dropping to the floor at its sheer visceral gory intensity. Some may argue
that the movie is just not funny anyway but I guess that just comes down to
different tastes in comedy as much of its humorous dialogue with witty banter
made me chuckle. Overall, ‘Hatchet’ worked for me and I wish its charm had carried
over to its sequels...
Hatchet
III (2013)
2010 follow-up ‘Hatchet II’
was a dull disappointing let down. It amped by the splatter with equally unique
memorable kills but forgot to give us likable characters that rendered the
injection of humour into the bloody proceedings a failure while adding more to
the mythology with an elaboration on the backstory of the legend of Victor Crowley all spread out over a frustratingly awkward pace. This was made all the
worse by the replacement of Tamara Feldman as final girl Marybeth Dunston with Danielle
Harris. Harris is a talented actress who is often very good being one of the
best scream queens working in the genre today but her performance was just off
seemingly not looking comfortable in the role topped off
with an annoyingly unconvincing Louisiana accent. This just made me miss
Feldman even more.
Danielle Harris fairs little
better here in this year’s ‘Hatchet III’ not given much to do taking a backseat
in more of a supporting role with her character now just extremely unlikable.
One of the better elements of the previous entry was the further explanation of
the origins of Crowley, which is a common ingredient for a sophomore entry into
a slasher franchise, but this instalment fails to take the series in any direction
whatsoever. Everything is just set-up to bring on the gore set-pieces and serving yet another cameofest of who’s who in horror
that has become quickly stale. Although, the other characters are more likable with
this time a smoother pace.
Just like the start of the
last film that picked up right the very moment the original ended this second
sequel starts just as that one finished with Marybeth (Harris) blasting away
with a shotgun at the face of Victor Crowley laid out on the ground. Unlike
most slasher series, the Hatchet franchise has been consistent for continuity
between entries with the exception of the change of lead actress. Watch the
full opening sequence here…
Marybeth makes her way to a
local police station with Crowley’s scalp repeatedly saying, “I killed him”. Sheriff Fowler (Zach
Galligan) orders a boat unit out to Honey Island swamp the setting of the last
two movies. The group find the mutilated bodies scattered around everywhere
while Marybeth is held in the station’s cells as a prime suspect in the murders
who acts like an unpleasant bitch for the rest of the runtime a completely
different contrast to how the character was portrayed by Tamara Feldman in the
first movie. Here Harris has made a really likable character really unlikable.
It could be down to Adam Green’s screenplay in that Marybeth has gone though
changes after everything she has been through but her terrifying experiences and
mental scarring does not mean she had to turn into a complete fucking dickhead.
Fowler’s ex-wife Amanda (Caroline
Williams) a journalist turns up at the station after hearing about it all on a police scanner.
She just so happens to be an expert on Victor Crowley and after being told to
stay out of it by her ex-husband she persuades another officer Deputy Elliot Winslow
(Robert Diago DoQui) to take her down to the cells to talk to Marybeth to get
her to help her prove that Crowley exists. Sure enough while clearing up the
bodies the group out in the swamp are massacred by a resurrected Victor Crowley.
Fowler heads out there with another group of law enforcers and a SWAT team are
brought in led by Officer Hawes (Derek Mears). While this is going on Amanda
manages to get Elliot to let out Marybeth, as she is the only one who can stop Crowley
being the daughter and last living relative of Sampson Dunston the man that helped
cause the death of the monstrous psycho slayer. Amanda somehow knows how to
kill him by getting Marybeth to return the ashes of his father
Thomas to him so his curse of living the same night over and over again
searching for his father can be lifted. Inevitably, more carnage follows.
While this threequel is a
slight step up from its mundane predecessor, with new director BJ McDonnell
moving the action along at a swift pace with another array of impressive gory
set-pieces thanks to yet more fantastic practical special make-up effects that
will keep the gorehounds happy this is all it is. With the exception of
Danielle Harris’s now unbearable portrayal of Marybeth who has nothing to do
except act like an utter cow, Green has written characters that are more
likable this time around but the series has just become too mean spirited in
tone neglecting the horror comedy roots of the original film with its charm
completely removed. There is humour but it gets lost in the more is best
approach of constant gore galore. The
potential fanboy pleasing faceoff between old and new Jasons - Hodder and Mears
respectively - is a wasted opportunity being over before it gets started. Kane
Hodder looks his best here as Victor Crowley with the finest make-up job of the trilogy
with a more realistic congenially deformed look.
While marginally better than
the previous instalment ‘Hatchet III’ is still yet another mediocre entry
into a franchise that run out of steam quickly after a first movie that was a
pleasantly enjoyable watch. The ending here paves the way for
another follow-up and on the strength of the last two sequels I am not looking
forward to seeing this series continue. Best to leave Crowley to rest now.
** out of ****
Dave J. Wilson
©2013 Cinematic Shocks, Dave J. Wilson
- All work is the property of the credited author and may not be reprinted or
reproduced elsewhere without permission.
nice blog
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