Hatchet II | Film Review | Slant Magazine

FILM MOVIE REVIEW

Tony Todd as Reverend Zombie in Adam Green's Hatchet II. [Photo: Dark Sky Films]

Hatchet II *

by Ed Gonzalez on September 30, 2010 Jump to Comments (2) or Add Your Own

Buy on Amazon:

Video

It was probably too soon to hope for a sequel to Frozen, Adam Green's nifty freakout from earlier this year about a trio of teens victimized by frostbite and ravenous wolves after being trapped on a ski lift. That clever, suspenseful exercise in desperation is referenced at one point during Green's Hatchet II, in which Emma Bell's Parker, having survived the horror of the previous film, is seen on television telling a reporter, "I'm never going skiing again." That in-joke trivializes the emotional richness Frozen remarkably sustained throughout much of its running time, but it's in keeping with Hatchet II's overall flippancy.

The drunken doofus that barfs on a French Quarter sidewalk sets the tone early as Mary Beth (now Danielle Harris), having survived the brute force of psycho ghost killer Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder), enlists the help of voodoo priest Reverend Zombie (Tony Todd) to retrieve her father and brother's corpses from Victor's swamp of horrors. Touching, except her desire is really an excuse for Green to once again make a spectacle of Victor's panache for the Grand Guignol, which this time includes slicing two dudes in half with the largest chainsaw on record and decapitating some schmuck while he gives it to his ex-girlfriend doggy-style. Rob Zombie could sue Green for filching his lightning filters, and though the splatter effects are still impressive, the audience must suffer through an hour of deadening exposition—all nonsensical backstory and tone-deaf humor—before Victor hacks away at his first human face. By then, you will have probably already torn off your own.

Director(s): Adam Green
Screenplay: Adam Green
Cast: Danielle Harris, Tony Todd, Kane Hodder, Parry Shen, Tom Holland, R.A. Mihailoff, AJ Bowen
Distributor: Dark Sky Films
Runtime: 89 min.
Rating: NR
Year: 2010

Comments

Jonathan Keefe on September 30, 2010, 06:53 PM

I'm honestly surprised that we don't have a proper review of Hatchet on the site.

It's agreeably jejeune in a way that I can get on board with from time to time, and it had its place as a strong reaction to the various genre forms (J-horror, "torture porn," franchise re-boots) that had dominated the horror genre for the better part of the preceding decade. There's also a viable subtext of nature wreaking vengeance on those who would interlope on the bayou that works in context vis-a-vis Hurricane Katrina. It's certainly no Texas Chainsaw Massacre as such things go and admittedly works better as pure escapism, but there's at least a little bit of meat to it.

That being said, the preview clips I've seen of this sequel look just wretched and, most notably, horribly lit. I wasn't too broken up that this won't be playing around here for a good long while.

Ed Gonzalez on October 1, 2010, 04:44 PM

I was also surprised we hadn't reviewed the first film. When I was cropping the image for this review, I noticed we an image for the first one in our master images folder, so I'm guessing I saved it in anticipation of getting a review for it. (I can only assume it didn't screen in anticipation of its release here in NYC, or we weren't invited.) I did catch it a few days ago, though, in anticipation of seeing the sequel.