Post by StevePulaski on Jun 14, 2013 16:22:28 GMT -5
Hatchet (2006).
A swamp-explorer meets Victor Crowley in Hatchet.
Rating: ★★★
Is Hatchet truly a good horror film? Not really. Is it a throwback to when horror was horror. But does it stand out amongst the remakes that we've had for the last several years? Absolutely. This is by no means a great film, but what we've had to tolerate for so long makes this appear as a golden light shining down on the genre itself.
Adam Green truly has a passion for the horror genre, and is clearly trying to revive it. Hatchet comes labeled with the tagline "OLD SCHOOL AMERICAN HORROR," and in its own right, it very well is. It reminds me of Friday the 13th where you either love it or hate it. It's very brutal, very gory, and very grotesque. But it has a nostalgia factor that doesn't always come equipped with modern horror films. It isn't intolerable as much as it is ambitious.
In the beginning of the film, a father and son (played by horror icon Robert Englund, and Blair Witch star Joshua Leonard, respectively) are beaten and brutally mutilated by a very large and intimidating monster like creature in the middle of the woods. Fast forward to present day, and the film focuses on a group of people who take a haunted swamp tour on the Louisiana bayou. There is an old wise tale about a deformed killer named Victor Crowley (Hodder). Long story short, he killed the father and son, and now he is rumored to haunt the woods and the bayou. The father's daughter Marybeth (Feldman) attends the swamp tour in hopes to find her father's body.
There's the premise, now on to bigger things. The gore, on one hand, is very well done. No CGI or any digital effects as far as I can tell, and everything looks and feels right. The atmosphere is nice, of course I've always been biased towards a woodsy setting. I live near one and always get a little worried at night because you can't see past the entrance. The woods has always been a great setting for horror because you never know what lurks in there after hours.It's much scarier than an abandoned house, but not far behind the woods is the ocean.
The true fun of Hatchet is the nostalgia. It's a simple and entertaining slice 'em and dice 'em film. Laid to Rest, which came three years later, was also in the same spirit, but failed to provide the efficient backstory this one has brought upon us. There isn't much to say negatively about a film that just wants to take you back before everything was about the money and for the true scares. It works on most every note.
Starring: Joel David Moore, Tamara Feldman, Deon Richmond, Mercedes McNab, Parry Shen, Joel Murray, Tony Todd, Robert Englund, and Joshua Leonard. Directed by: Adam Green.
A swamp-explorer meets Victor Crowley in Hatchet.
Rating: ★★★
Is Hatchet truly a good horror film? Not really. Is it a throwback to when horror was horror. But does it stand out amongst the remakes that we've had for the last several years? Absolutely. This is by no means a great film, but what we've had to tolerate for so long makes this appear as a golden light shining down on the genre itself.
Adam Green truly has a passion for the horror genre, and is clearly trying to revive it. Hatchet comes labeled with the tagline "OLD SCHOOL AMERICAN HORROR," and in its own right, it very well is. It reminds me of Friday the 13th where you either love it or hate it. It's very brutal, very gory, and very grotesque. But it has a nostalgia factor that doesn't always come equipped with modern horror films. It isn't intolerable as much as it is ambitious.
In the beginning of the film, a father and son (played by horror icon Robert Englund, and Blair Witch star Joshua Leonard, respectively) are beaten and brutally mutilated by a very large and intimidating monster like creature in the middle of the woods. Fast forward to present day, and the film focuses on a group of people who take a haunted swamp tour on the Louisiana bayou. There is an old wise tale about a deformed killer named Victor Crowley (Hodder). Long story short, he killed the father and son, and now he is rumored to haunt the woods and the bayou. The father's daughter Marybeth (Feldman) attends the swamp tour in hopes to find her father's body.
There's the premise, now on to bigger things. The gore, on one hand, is very well done. No CGI or any digital effects as far as I can tell, and everything looks and feels right. The atmosphere is nice, of course I've always been biased towards a woodsy setting. I live near one and always get a little worried at night because you can't see past the entrance. The woods has always been a great setting for horror because you never know what lurks in there after hours.It's much scarier than an abandoned house, but not far behind the woods is the ocean.
The true fun of Hatchet is the nostalgia. It's a simple and entertaining slice 'em and dice 'em film. Laid to Rest, which came three years later, was also in the same spirit, but failed to provide the efficient backstory this one has brought upon us. There isn't much to say negatively about a film that just wants to take you back before everything was about the money and for the true scares. It works on most every note.
Starring: Joel David Moore, Tamara Feldman, Deon Richmond, Mercedes McNab, Parry Shen, Joel Murray, Tony Todd, Robert Englund, and Joshua Leonard. Directed by: Adam Green.