Another on bought on a punt. Hatchet was a nice easy watch. From the outset I’ll say this is not an amazing film but it’s cool enough if you just want to veg out and get some cheap horror thrills.
The film opens up with a father and son duo hunting alligators in a New Orleans swamp. In a nice touch the father is Robert Englund of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” fame. Roberts character gets eaten by a gator a couple of mins into the film meaning we don’t get to see anymore of him. What his appearance does do is give the film an air of credability. His killing also sets a level of intent with some rather cool gore. The film then switches into the New Orleans Mardi Gras where many young people are gathered to party their asses into the ground. If you’re fan of boobies, there’s a lot of them on display early on in the movie, which will definitely get a few you guys engrossed in the movie before you release how thin the plot actually is.
Its not long before we start to get to know the main characters in the film. Our gang of teenagers / young adults are taking in the sights of New Orleans whilst of course trying to meet some girls. One river tour takes them past the old residence of local myth “Victor Crowley”. Anyway of course heavy rains set in and the boat gets stuck. A croc comes up from the from the river and takes a bite out of an older gentlemen and they party have to take care of him. Of the girls, who incidently was able to save the older guy by shooting the croc recounts the story of Victor Crowley, the disfigured outcast who had been tormented by the local kids. She is convinced that Crowley is still lurking around the swamp wanting to get revenge on society as a whole.
The story is very reminiscent of the origin story of Jason Vorhees from “Friday the 13th”. Nothing about this Hatchet is particularly original. It’s like a collage of other better made movies. Not to say it’s particularly bad but it’s definitely not original. It’s still quite enjoyable and a great movie to watch over a few drinks if you don’t want a particularly intellectual experience. There’s even a few funny moments in the dialogue, but one can’t be sure if they were all intentional or not. One added bonus is the actor who plays Crowely is actually Kane Hodder who played Jason Vorhees in later instalments of the Friday 13th series.
Can the teens survive the swamp? More importantly can they survive Vincent Crowely? Well realistically anyone who’s seen more than 2 or 3 slasher films will be able to guess the answer. The fun’s in the watching!
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