Director: Adam Green
Screenplay: Adam Green
Producers: Derek Curl, Sarah Elbert, Cory Neal
Starring: Danielle Harris, Tony Todd, Kane Hodder, John Carl Buechler
MPAA Rating: R
Running time: 89 min.

Rating for fans for cheesy, over the top, bloody horror movies:

(3.5/5)

For everyone else:

(1.5/5)

When Hatchet was unleashed on us in 2006, it was heralded as a new vision of horror and the first trailer was covered in adoring quotes from everyone and their mother. The movie turned out to be campy horror fun and aside from the belt sander to the face, I can’t remember anything else about the movie. Not exactly the most memorable thing I saw that year.

Apparently, some sort of cult following developed around the film and last year, director Adam Green released a second helping of his monster Victor Crowley terrorizing the swamps. Picking up immediately where Hatchet left off – the very next frame to be exact – Hatchet II has Marybeth returning to the swamp with a crack team of hunters in search of Victor. It begins as a sort of rescue mission for her dead family and quickly turns into a hunt for revenge and survival.

The story is pretty unimportant and simply provides a framework for lots of killing and geysers of blood. Definitely not for the faint of heart, there are some pretty impressive kills here and the film really goes balls out on the gruesome but 15 minutes in I’d lost interest in what was going on. I didn’t care for the characters or even the deaths and aside from a few moments of glee at the spotting of Tony Todd (who is still awesome) and Troll director John Carl Buechler; along with a number of other Horror film greats, there was little else to keep me interested. This is definitely catering to the built in audience with little regard for anyone outside the genre. I’m sure Hatchet II is quite successful at what it sets out to do: please its fanbase. I can imagine it does so well but the rest of us non-believers are hard pressed to like this movie.

As mentioned before, the kills are impressive, as are the practical effects to achieve them. It’s refreshing to see so much of the work still done the traditional way and that makes me like the movie a little more. Hatchet II, like Hatchet before it, is a film which is reinvigorating a very specific niche of horror film sadly, it just happens to be one I have little love for. I like the idea and general aesthetic of the production and how this feels very much like a passion project – I just wish it was easier to like. I need a little more (like a story) from my horror movies and blood for the sake of blood is just not my style.

Though Hatchet II didn’t work for me, I expect it’ll likely be a big hit with fans of cheesy horror movies and those who like buckets of blood in their movies. Once again, the most memorable moment for me is the belt sander to the head. I’m sure that in 20 years when horror fans talk about this franchise (there is no doubt in my mind we will see Hatchet III) I’ll remember it as the one where the bad guy kills people with a belt sander.

Hatchet II is available on DVD and Blu-Ray on February 15th.

DVD Extras: A thirty minute making of documentary “Hatchet II: Behind The Screams” which was much more interesting than the movie itself. I enjoyed seeing the passion this production team had for this project and how much strongly they believe in what they’re doing. Though I didn’t care for the movie, I have a load of respect for director Adam Green who has an infectious passion for movies. Seeing this documentary made me like the movie a little more and though I won’t see a third installment, I’ll certainly be seeing more of Green’s other work. Other extras include the trailer, teaser trailer along with TV & radio spots.