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Movies / On DVD / Hatchet
Hatchet

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Hatchet (2007)

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Reviews Counted:40

Fresh:19

Rotten:21

Average Rating:5.4/10

Consensus: The over-the-top gore, campy acting, and dim cinematography may be part of Hatchet's self-described old-school ethos, but irony alone can't sustain a horror film.

Rated: 18 [See Full Rating] for strong bloody horror violence, sexual content, nudity and language.

Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Theatrical Release:05-10-2007

Synopsis: The slasher film all but died with the release of SCREAM (1996). From that point on, the genre became populated with slick studio productions starring the latest round of teen television stars,... The slasher film all but died with the release of SCREAM (1996). From that point on, the genre became populated with slick studio productions starring the latest round of teen television stars, while gore and terror all but disappeared. HATCHET director Adam green clearly longs for the early days of the VCR, when films like MADMAN (1982), THE BURNING (1981), and THE PROWLER (1981) gave us psycho killers with grudges, deformities, and axes to grind—usually very graphically against the heads of promiscuous teens. HATCHET's killer is Victor Crowley, a grossly misshapen New Orleans bayou boogeyman who suffered an accidental hatchet to the face when his father tried to rescue him from a fire. When brokenhearted college boy Ben (Joel Moore) ditches his friends during a pre-Katrina Mardi Gras in favor of a cheesy Haunted Swamp tour, he finds himself on a boat full of misfits with an inexperienced tour guide (Perry Shen) just in from Detroit. Soon, the boat is sinking, and the passengers who also include an aspiring porn director and his two stars, a middle-aged couple, and a young woman with a vendetta against Crowley--come face-to-face with the monstrous killer. Green clearly isn't against mixing humor in with his scares---HATCHET is rather liberal with laughs and has a generally lighthearted tone. But when the gore comes in, it's strong and noxious---though usually very dimly lit, this is messy stuff. He also shows his appreciation for horror film history by giving cameos to Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund and Tony "Candyman" Todd and casting Kane "Jason Voorhees" Hodder as Crowley. HATCHET is a lively, funny, and reverent 1980's-style gore film that is certain to get a roomful of gorehounds howling with approval. [More]

Starring: Joel David Moore, Tamara Feldman, Deon Richmond, Mercedes McNab

Starring: Joel David Moore, Tamara Feldman, Deon Richmond, Mercedes McNab, Parry Shen, Joleigh Fioreavanti, Joel Murray, Richard Riehle, Patrika Darbo, Joshua Leonard, John Carl Buechler, Kane Hodder, Robert Englund, Tony Todd

Director: Adam Green

Director: Adam Green
Screenwriter: Adam Green
Producer: Scott Altomare, Cory Neal, Sarah Elbert
Composer: Andy Garfield
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment

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Reviews for Hatchet

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Enjoyably schlocky horror flick, with its tongue firmly in cheek, ensuring that there are several laughs to be had amidst all the gory, hatchet-wielding mayhem.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/06/07
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Fun horror-comedy about tourists being picked off in the swamps. Tongues are firmly in cheeks; heads don't stay long on shoulders.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
10/05/07
Tim Robey
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This low-budget horror spoof lasts only 84 minutes, but seems to take forever.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
10/05/07
Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Independent

A reasonably serviceable horror, with much gory dismemberment, and featuring a kind of ancestor worship in the casting of scary-movie veterans Robert Englund and Tony Todd.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
10/05/07
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Billed as “Old School American horror”, Hatchet’s actually something far less classy: a technically inept homage to ’80s slasher movies that’s both bloody and bloody stupid.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
10/05/07
Jamie Russell
Jamie Russell
Total Film

Long before its howling bogeyman has savaged his last victim you'll be wondering if the movie has anything else to offer besides self-conscious homage.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
10/05/07
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Green’s efforts to strike a balance between knowing humour and no-holds-barred horror are stymied by an erratic tone: a slow, talky build-up gives way to a soggy middle section and a messy, all-stops-out finale.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
10/05/07
Nigel Floyd
Nigel Floyd
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What could have been a mini-Scream is ultimately I’ll Always Know You Did Last Halloween the 13th.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
10/05/07
Rob Daniel
Rob Daniel
Sky Movies

Like Scream never happened, this is an uneven comedy-horror homage that gets by on enthusiasm alone.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
10/05/07
Simon Crook
Simon Crook
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

usually the choice between "fun party" and "mad badness" is a no-brainer - but in Hatchet, viewers get the best of both worlds, as carnivalesque hilarity and carnage go hand in bloody hand.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/27/07
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

So ridiculously over-the-top that it's best viewed as a wacky spoof.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment 1 Comment
09/02/07
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Only a brief, nicely sculpted bass clarinet line provides any redeeming quality.

Full Review Source: JWR | comment Comment
07/23/09
S. James Wegg
S. James Wegg
JWR

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Mike Bracken's Horror Films | comment Comment
10/18/08
Mike Bracken
Mike Bracken
Mike Bracken's Horror Films

This may be the bucket of blood that splatter fans were eagerly anticipating ... but it is also an excellent horror film with solid scripting and strong performances that make it appealing to a wider audience.

Full Review Source: ESplatter | comment Comment
07/05/08
Steve Biodrowski
Steve Biodrowski
ESplatter
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
11/24/07
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Anyone feeding into this nostalgia is yearning for a kind of warm and fuzzy horror that’s wholly irrelevant today.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
10/06/07
Joshua Rothkopf
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out New York

Hatchet est un film fait par des fans pour des fans avec tout ce que cela implique en termes d'effusions de sang et de démembrements à n'en plus finir

Full Review Source: Panorama | comment Comment
09/21/07
Jean-François Vandeuren
Jean-François Vandeuren
Panorama

(I)t has to be said that Hatchet's homage to the goofy, gloppy vivisection-fests of two decades before has a strange way of satisfying.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
09/16/07
Bill Gibron
Bill Gibron
PopMatters

Horror without suspense is like sex without love: you can appreciate the technicalities, but ultimately there’s no reason to care.

comment Comment
09/15/07
Jeannette Catsoulis
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's just not that scary (even the gory sequences are predictable and boring). And it certainly isn't clever or funny.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
09/15/07
Jonathan Perry
Jonathan Perry
Boston Globe
 
 
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