Thursday, February 3, 2011

Hatchet II


Despite not being much of a fan of the first one, I decided to give Hatchet II a whirl. Most people disagreed with me about the first Hatchet, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about the writer/director, Adam Green. I figured a key point of the review would be to compare and contrast the review I did of the first one, although it was much more etched in my memory than most movies I’ve seen. I still remember most of my criticisms, including a line I used “if you get Tony Todd to appear in your movie, you should have him in the movie as much as possible” criticizing the brevity of his appearance. So I could link back to it, I looked up the address of the original review.

It doesn’t exist.

I looked at the archives of this blog, and of the three previous blogs I filled with my illiterate ramblings (you’ve been at it too long when you’ve written for that many blogs). Nothing. Nada. Zilch. The only reference to Hatchet was in a throw-away line in my review of Laid to Rest. So what happened to this no doubt insightful and brilliantly written review of mine? Did it get accidentally eaten? Put on yet another site I’ve forgotten? Was it written by someone else and my damaged mind is convincing me it was my work? Did it never really exist in the first place?

Oh, and if those guys in the white coats are reading this, this jacket doesn’t fit well at all.

On to the movie…

The original Hatchet was billed as a return to “Old School American Horror”, chock full of horror icons like Kane Hodder, Robert Englund and the aforementioned Mr. Todd. It was a slasher film about a tour group in the Louisiana swamp that runs into a psycho named Victor Crowley and gets chopped to shreds. It had some humor, and a lot of in-jokes for the horror connoisseur (I remember mentioning that in my lost review, too! Dammit!) but I thought in the long run it was just another slasher film, and I’m not that big a fan of the sub-genre.

The sequel takes up where the first one left off, and I mean right where the first one left off. The original cast has been sliced and diced, except for one plucky female survivor, Marybeth (played by Tamara Feldman in the first one, and this time by Danielle Harris, who is becoming something of a horror icon herself). After escaping Victor Crowley, she decides she must…immediately return to the swamp, to get the bodies of her family members. Marybeth obviously didn’t get into MIT. She goes to Reverend Zombie (Todd) and he organizations a return expedition for his own purposes, which seem to be getting rid of Crowley so he can make millions off swamp tours in Crowley’s swamp. The reverend isn’t Mensa material either. He gets together a collection of the dumbest redneck stereotypes imaginable, and they go off to get killed by Crowley.

It’s exactly what you would expect it to be, so if you are looking for a standard issue slasher film, gory with a bit of humor thrown in, this is probably for you. It's the first movie done differently, with a little more backstory, in the tradition of horror sequels. Tony Todd is present throughout most of the movie, so apparently the filmmakers read the review I never wrote in some alternate universe, but that isn't enough to elevate it, as enjoyable as Todd's performance may be.
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7 comments:

Craig Clarke said...

Strangely enough, I remember that comment about Todd, so you're not alone in that alternate universe.

KentAllard said...

Now I feel even creepier about this.

Unknown said...

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Barnes and Noble Link
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Amazon link
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Anonymous said...

I like Adam Green's work quite a bit,but like you, I was something less than bowled over by HATCHET.
Sure, it was a fun, hyper-violent redux of the slashers of yesteryear like MADMAN & THE BURNING. But, honestly, I much preferred his quieter, creepy suspenser SPIRAL & his FROZEN.
Haven't seen HATCHET II yet however, but I will.
Hell, maybe I'll find it for under ten bucks at Wal-Mart & just buy it sight unseen like I did HATCHET.

KentAllard said...

I've had SPIRAL on the shelf forever, and I need to watch it. I've heard very good things about FROZEN.

The Doctor said...

Honestly, it is almost like a different guy made Frozen. This movie isn't even "talented director limted by budget" kinda stuff that some of the best slasher/horror movies are. "Saving the horror genre" my ass.

Anonymous said...

Well, to each their own Doc. To each their own...
I quite enjoyed FROZEN.
Sure, some latter elements of it were TOTALLY far fetched, but it had some good performances & was entertaining straight through it's run time.

Kent- By all means, take a look at SPIRAL when you can.
It's nothing groundbreaking, but again, it keeps your attention for an hour & a half, which FAR too many thrillers & chillers these days fail to do.
Jim