Review of Hatchet (2006) by Jared K — 10 Nov 2017

Every film review requires some knowledge of the reviewer ultimately. This is no more prevalent than with me and Hatchet. I love 70s and 80s slasher movies. There's only a couple I can genuinely call great movies, but as a guilty pleasure piece of entertainment, I can't get enough of them. So of course I liked Hatchet. If slasher movies aren't your thing, you're going to hate this movie. If you are a slasher fan, you owe it to yourself to see Hatchet.

Of all the modern slashers out there, this is the one that comes the closest to the look and feel of a slasher of 70s or 80s. We got our potentially supernatural killer who efficiently kills a group of people who are stupid enough to enter his territory. It's filled with all the tropes that this genre is known for, but it embraces them in such a way you know it's in good fun. It does a few things that even enhance its genre though, namely the gore. The MPAA of the time of classic slashers was notorious for cutting the most gruesome scenes, and without an unrated DVD to put these on a lot of them are lost forever. The MPAA has cooled down a bit (or maybe just stopped caring) when it comes to violence, so here there are some brutal scenes. The great thing is they still feel like scenes that would be in a slasher movie of the time if it weren't for the MPAA cutting them. They're even done predominately with practical effects too. Some of the effects are a little obvious, but that's also part of the fun and the charm. The characters are also quite a bit better than most slasher films. I mean, they're not great, but they are significantly more memorable than anyone from the old slashers.

I do have some problems with the movie though. For one, while I love the swamp setting for being unique and disgusting, it does get a little tiring to stay in one ugly place the whole time. I also have some issues with the villain Victor Crowley, I just don't think he's up to the same level as the Jason's and Freddy's of the past. He's mostly fine, a big scary freak for them to run from with a pretty solid and intimidating performance from horror veteran Kane Hodder, but he just didn't totally work for me. I'm not entirely sure what it is, he's just kind of an unpleasant character in the worst way. He's awkward and ugly to look at and just not that fun. They also work a little too hard to give him an origin and reason behind his vengeance, and giving too much information pokes some holes in his logic that are hard to ignore. I guess he's fine, but he's just not going to enter the halls of legends for me unless they really improve him in the sequels.

Hatchet has problems in fully reaching slasher glory, but I have to admire how close it get and how hard it works to get there. My biggest issue is with the villain, and in a slasher series that is a big issue, but I like him well enough to see his potential for improvement. I also think the stuff that's good and lovingly tributes the genre is just too good to ignore. If you love the genre and haven't watched this one yet, you need to. It's not going to convert anyone, but fans will find a lot to enjoy.