Hatchet review

The advertising poster for Hatchet declares it to be an ‘old school American horror’ and it is certainly that. In the misty depths of theNew Orleansbayou, a little deformed boy called Victor Crowley was the victim of a Halloween prank that went badly wrong. While he desperately tried to save his son by hacking through the door of his prison, he inadvertently kills his son by chopping into his head with a hatchet.

Many years later, a group of tourists in a tour of the ‘haunted swamp’ hear about this local legend and how Victor is supposed to haunt the area, and to their horror discover that some legends are actually true. Thus is the premise to this 80′s throwback slasher horror, paying homage to that decade when horrors had large than life killers, the body count was huge and sweet, crimson liquid covered everything in sprays, spurts and splashes.

It is to this films credit that it doesn’t try to take itself too seriously and tries to be nothing more than an enjoyable, old school horror flick, and it is certainly popcorn munching fun.  There is an excellent balance between the humour, which flows effortlessly from the characters, and the gore. The kills are well shot, creative and produce plenty of the red stuff splashing onto trees and the like.

The scene involving the belt sander is particularly memorable. Although the characters are stereotypical, they mesh together very well and are also well acted. There are some great cameos from horror king Robert Englund, Blair Witch’s Joshua Leonard and the Candyman himself Tony Todd. Other notable performances include Joe David Moore as Ben and Deon Richmond as Marcus.

The camera work and the special effects are interesting, effective and creative, and done without any fancy cutting edge technology and without a sniff of CGI. They made this film much the same as if it had been made back in the 80′s, and did it very well indeed. The make up to create Victor Crowley is amazing, and is further enhanced by the clever use of shadows around the location.

Overall, this is a clever film that keeps you enthralled right through to the end credits. It was a smart film to make in light of the dire offerings that had preceded it any film that takes you on a roller coaster ride of thrills and spills is a good horror by anyone’s standards.