Hatchet II Review

I was one of 6,188 people (I did the math because I’m bored) that actually got to see Hatchet II in theaters before it got pulled. The film had generated a lot of publicity by being the biggest unrated horror film release, yet was yanked from AMC theaters three days after its release. I didn’t think Hatchet II was out of control. I’ve seen more brutal movies like The Hills Have Eyes or High Tension. I guess American audiences aren’t ready to handle real indie horror films…yet.

Hatchet II picks up right where Hatchet left off – Marybeth in the grip of Victor Crowley. She manages to escape his clutches and makes her way back to town. Instead of going to the police, she heads back to Reverend Zombie’s place and they strike a deal to go back into the swamp. This time, they are joined by top shooters, game and alligator hunters, and Marybeth’s uncle; all under a bribe of $500. Once they enter the swamp, Victor Crowley starts hacking and slashing his way through everyone in the party.

I think the best attribute of Hatchet II is that it is a direct sequel to Hatchet. There are a lot of sequels out there in the horror genre that have no resemblance to the original films or contain one returning character in a completely new plot. Hatchet II is literally a continuation of the previous film; almost as if it was one film split into two parts. Hatchet II really builds on the previous film and gives you a lot of insight into the characters, how Victor Crowley came to be, and other little tidbits on the franchise. One not to big spoiler-e detail is that you find out that Shapiro was a child molester.

Returning director and writer Adam Green, cinematographer Will Barratt, ArieScope Pictures, and Dark Sky Films should all be happy about how Hatchet II turned out. The script is great. I loved the line, “Do you love me more than the baby Jesus?” The lighting is great, especially being that almost all of it was filmed at night. The audio is great. The special effects are really cheesy, but I think they are that way on purpose. With the special effects being so cheesy, some pretty interesting death scenes were invented; for example – a fisherman getting strangled to death by his own insides. There is even a genuine scare towards the beginning, which I won’t warn you about, but it did make me jump.

Hatchet II has a bang-up (not bang-able) cast. First and foremost, Danielle Harris fills in as the lead Marybeth; the role former having been played by Tamara Feldman. Other returning characters from Hatchet include Tony Todd as Reverend Zombie and Kane Hodder as Victor Crowley. Parry Shen also returns as Shawn’s twin brother, Justin, but he’s not the only minor character to appear. Mercedes McNab as Misty and Joleigh Fioravanti as Jenna appear in new footage from Shapiro’s Bayou Beavers video, obviously having been taken before their demise. Other interesting cast members include R.A. Mihailoff (“Leatherface” in Texas Chainsaw Massacre III), Tom Holland (Psycho II), Emma Bell (“Amy” in The Walking Dead) as supporting cast; and Shawn Ashmore (“Iceman” X-Men series), Lloyd Kaufman (director of Tromeo & Juliet), Sarah Agor (VH1’s Scream Queens Season 1) and Joe Lynch (director of Wrong Turn 2) as assorted extras. Awesome cast list, right?

Ironically, I felt that Hatchet II ended very much in the same way that Rob Zombie’s Halloween did. This is ironic because Danielle Harris played Annie in the film. You’ll have to see the ending for yourself to get what I mean. I encourage you to go see Hatchet II; I highly recommend it. You can stream it to your computer for 2 days via Amazon.com for only $3.99. Great cast, great script, great production quality, great everything – one of the best horror films I saw in 2010, indie horror at its best.