Review of Hatchet (2006) by Grayson W — 08 May 2015

HATCHET's heart is clearly in the right place (evidenced by the appearance of genre vets like Todd, Englund, and Hodder), but there are just too many comic moments that fall painfully flat, in addition to a rather amateurish aesthetic.

Indeed, the entire movie is kind of horrifically overlit (it is as if a blindingly bright spotlight is following the characters around the dark swampland of the story's setting). The dialogue contains some fun references, but most of the out-and-out humor doesn't work, and the whole thing is underscored by music which undercuts the tone a seemingly ever turn.

The gore effects are a ton of over-the-top fun, but they're not enough to prevent HATCHET from mostly being a misfire.