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Hatchet

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Hatchet (2007)

46%
20%
69%
N/A
N/A
N/A
46 %
Reviews Counted: 37 Fresh: 17  Rotten:20 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.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Rated: 18

Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins

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, while gore and terror all but disappeared. HATCHET director Adam green clearly longs for the early... 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]

Genre: Horror/Suspense

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

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

DVD Info

Release:

Jun 12, 2008

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentary - Adam Green - Co-Producer/Director/Writer; Tamara Feldman - Actor; Joel Moore - Actor; Deon Richmond - Actor
  • Featurette - 1. Making of HATCHET
  • 2. GUTS & GORE
  • 3. MEETING VICTOR CROWLEY
  • 4. ANATOMY OF A KILL
  • 5. A TWISTED TALE
  • Gag Reel
  • Trailer

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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Ratings Image
3/5

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 | comment Comment
10/06/07
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
Ratings Image
N/A

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 | comment Comment
10/05/07
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
1/5

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

Full Review | comment Comment
10/05/07
Anthony Quinn
Independent
Ratings Image
2/5

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 | comment Comment
10/05/07
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
2/5

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 | comment Comment
10/05/07
Jamie Russell
Total Film
Ratings Image
2/5

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 | comment Comment
10/05/07
Neil Smith
BBC
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Ratings Image
2/6

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 | comment Comment
10/05/07
Nigel Floyd
Time Out
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Ratings Image
2/5

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

Full Review | comment Comment
10/05/07
Rob Daniel
Sky Movies
Ratings Image
2/5

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

Full Review | comment Comment
10/05/07
Simon Crook
Empire Magazine
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Ratings Image
3.5/5

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 | comment Comment
09/27/07
Anton Bitel
Channel 4 Film
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Ratings Image
2/5

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

Full Review | comment 1 Comment
09/02/07
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Ratings Image
N/A

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 | comment Comment
07/05/08
Steve Biodrowski
ESplatter
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
11/24/07
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ratings Image
2/6

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

Full Review | comment Comment
10/06/07
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out New York
Ratings Image
7/10

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 | comment Comment
09/21/07
Jean-François Vandeuren
Panorama
Ratings Image
3/5

(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 | comment Comment
09/16/07
Bill Gibron
PopMatters
Ratings Image
1.5/5

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
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
1/4

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

Full Review | comment Comment
09/15/07
Jonathan Perry
Boston Globe
Ratings Image
N/A

Draggy stretches in the first few reels could easily have been pruned from an already tight 83-minute running time.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/11/07
Justin Chang
Variety
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Ratings Image
65/100

It's spirited, totally exploitative, entirely forgettable high body count slasher movie fun, and it sure ain't pretending to be quality cinema.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/10/07
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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