Hatchet (2006)

Director:

Adam Green

Writer:

Adam Green (writer)

Release Date:

5 October 2007 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

Old school American Horror.

Plot:

When a group of tourists on a New Orleans haunted swamp tour find themselves stranded in the wilderness, their evening of fun and spooks turns into a horrific nightmare.

Plot Keywords:

Swamp | Victor Crowley | Louisiana | Torso Cut In Half | Extreme Gore

Awards:

6 wins

Cast

Joel Moore	...	Ben (as Joel David Moore)
Tamara Feldman	...	Marybeth
Deon Richmond	...	Marcus
Kane Hodder	...	Victor Crowley / Mr. Crowley
Mercedes McNab	...	Misty
Parry Shen	...	Shawn
Joel Murray	...	Shapiro
Joleigh Fioravanti	...	Jenna (as Joleigh Fioreavanti)
Richard Riehle	...	Mr. Permatteo
Patrika Darbo	...	Mrs. Permatteo
Robert Englund	...	Sampson
Joshua Leonard	...	Ainsley
Tony Todd	...	Reverend Zombie
John Carl Buechler	...	Jack Cracker (as John Buechler)
Rileah Vanderbilt	...	Young Victor Crowley

MPAA:

Rated R for strong bloody horror violence, sexual content, nudity and language. (edited for re-rating; previously NC-17 for extreme violence and gore)

Runtime:

84 min (uncut version) | UK:85 min | Canada:84 min (Premium movie channel) | Germany:93 min (European Film Market)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:NC-17 (original rating) | USA:R (cut) | UK:18 | Germany:18 | Ireland:18 | Australia:R | Finland:K-18 (self applied) | Portugal:M/16 | New Zealand:R16

Filming Locations:

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Company:

ArieScope Pictures

Trivia:

The T-shirt with the odd-looking smiley face on it is the logo for Newbury Comics, a New England chain that sells CDs, DVDs and comic books. Director Adam Green grew up in Massachusetts and would buy his horror movies and action figures from there.

Goofs:

Continuity: Marybeth's gun changes from a Glock, to a Colt, to a Smith & Wesson many times throughout the movie.

Quotes:

Jenna: I can't believe I am out here in a swamp. I bet Julia Roberts didn't have to go through this before she got Mystic Pizza.

Movie Connections:

References Friday the 13th (1980)

Soundtrack:

I Don't Want To Wait

I've seen worse...but I've seen better too

A bunch of the usual idiots are in a boat going through a swamp in New Orleans. Naturally the swamp supposedly has the ghost of a deformed maniacal man. Naturally the boat hits a rock and everybody has to get ashore. And naturally the maniac is alive and well (somehow) and goes after all of them.

As you can see this is totally by the numbers. There's no explanation of how this thing is still alive after so many years and he seems to be able to teleport to exactly where the victims are--there are at least five instances where he appears someplace that it was impossible for him to get to. Hasn't this insulting cliché been played out already? And nothing kills him (of course). All the passengers are the same clichés we've seen before--there's the slutty girls, the horny older guy, the nice guy, the nice girl, the elderly couple... I was actually getting pretty insulted that these were trotted out again in a movie.

In some ways it'll give the undiscriminating horror fan what he wants--blood and boobs. Before the opening credits two people are literally torn apart (one is amusingly played by Robert Englund) and there's at least 10 pairs of nude breast shots in the first 15 minutes alone! This gets a 5 because it wasn't unwatchable. It moves fairly swiftly and the cast were actually pretty good. They're not going to win any awards but they pulled off their roles. The script has some purposely funny lines and I did laugh a few times. Also the gore was pretty explicit. I'm surprised it was cut for an R cause it's pretty extreme as it is.

So, if you're a horror fan, you've seen this before. But if there's nothing else at the video store or on TV this is an OK time waster.