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Info:
- Rated: Unrated
- Cast: Joel David Moore, Deon Richmond, Mercedes McNab, Tony Todd, Robert Englund, Kane Hodder
- Writer: Adam Green
- Director: Adam Green
- Distributor: Anchor Bay
- Original Year of Release: 2007
- Extras: Theatrical Trailer. A Twisted Tale. Anatomy of a Kill. Audio Commentary with Co-Producer/Writer/Director Adam Green, Co-Producer/Cinematographer Will Barratt and Actors Tamara Feldman, Joel Moore and Deon Richmond. Gag Reel. Guts & Gore.
Meeting Victor Crowley. The Making of HATCHET
HATCHET (Unrated)
By
Robert T. Trate
December 14, 2007
HATCHET (Unrated)
© Anchor Bay
Before you read another word: if you don’t love Horror movies then, ‘Hatchet’ isn’t for you. If you love Horror movies, and I mean really love Horror movies, then you will find ‘Hatchet’ to be so ridiculously violent it’s fun the way these movies of this genre are supposed to be.
A couple of months back, I went to Horror Convention in the wilds of New Jersey. At the convention, Anchor Bay, the film’s distributor, was promoting ‘Hatchet’. They handed out T-Shirts and kept saying, “Join the Hatchet army”. They also had Tony Todd talking about the plans for a sequel and what would happen with his character. Then, periodically they would run the trailer. A creepy little girl’s voice told us the woes of one Victor Crowley, as the camera skimmed gently across the water in a deep murky swamp. Then, Anchor Bay’s representative showed a scene where people were shouting warnings at other people who were leaving the safety of the group because they believed they could find help. The stereotypical scene in which films like ‘Scream’ have made us ever so aware of. Victor Crowley then emerges from the swamp and dismembers someone like I have never seen before. It was over the top, it was fun, ridiculous, and it got me hooked completely. Sadly the film never even got anywhere close to me in the theater. I was finally able to see ‘Hatchet’ DVD and it didn’t disappoint.
Two college buddies, Ben (Joel David Moore) and Marcus (Deon Richmond), leave Mardi gras to go on haunted swamp tour. The tour isn’t spectacular or fun however, after the boat runs aground they find themselves face to face with Victor Crowley, (Kane Hodder) a deranged lunatic living in the swamp. The film does have the conventions of a “slasher” film from this point on. Escape near death, run away, someone gets killed, run away, fight back, fail, runaway. What made ‘Hatchet’ different was that it never took itself too seriously and remembered that Horror “slasher” films are to be both scary and fun. Adam Green (writer/ director) took his story and ran the gauntlet by paying homage to the genre and making fun of it at the same time. Many of the scenes are classic Freddy/ Jason/ Michael Myers set ups. We know something bad is going to happen, we’ve seen it all before but Green takes it to another place and makes you not only gag in horror but laugh too.
It was refreshing to actually enjoy the dialogue along with creativity of the multiple dismemberments. Often the acting in Horror “slasher” films leaves little to be desired. ‘Hatchet’ has a great cast (outside of the cameos). Joel David Moore and Deon Richmond play the scares with a great sense of realism yet, their strengths obviously lay in their comedic timing. Richmond steals a lot of the scenes but it is Moore who delivers our dorky would be hero who is not only likable but believable. Neither actor went over the top with any scene, though Deon Richard came close a few times. Of course a Horror “slasher” film has to have hot chicks in it. Joleigh Fioreavanti and Mercedes McNab are our two “Girls Gone Wild” girls who are making a “film” with their director, Shapiro (Joel Murray). Fioreavanti and McNab steal scenes from one another throughout the film and with dialogue that is fouler that any two sailors on leave. It’s loaded with catchphrases and one liners that deliver what this genre has been missing for so long, actual dialogue. Green did take a turn with the genres mousy/ smart girl and made her a heroine that needs saving instead of the heroine that saves the day. Marybeth (Tamara Feldman) is our scorned girl with some of the answers but she is never too strong or too smart to out do Victor Crowley. She is in it up to her ass and elbows in blood just like everyone else. It’s refreshing that she doesn’t go from meek to ass kicker like the genres lead female characters always do.
Breaking the conventions and paying homage to them is the great ride that ‘Hatchet’ delivers. When Victor Crowley got up, again, after being supposedly killed, I realized this film was only going to end one way. Green then again broke convention and delivered the ending that all fans of the genre deserve and want, the Hero standing victoriously.
Special Features:
Besides the commentary track by the crew there are a few featurettes that deliver. The “Gag Reel” is exactly that, a reel of people gagging and gagging again in the attempt to get vomiting ever so right. “The Making of” plays like “Project Greenlight” where Green and crew reveal how Green’s eight year old camp told horror story stuck with him all his life until the day he wrote it into a script and then how they decided to put their money where their mouths were and make a film. Inspiring to aspiring film maker but what was truly inspiring was that no CGI was used in the making of ‘Hatchet’. Budgetary constraints and a love for the “Old School American Horror” prompted Green and crew to use a steady cam for the entire shoot and quick clever cuts to deliver more gore that ever before. So you definitely want to check out the “Anatomy of a Kill” featurette and “Guts & Gore”.
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