Hatchet (2006)

Just when you thought slasher flicks were pretty much dead along comes one that reinvigorates the genre and gives a nice dose of Friday the 13^th inspired bloodshed!

Hatchet starts off with a prelude that includes a cameo by Robert “Freddy Krueger” Englund. Englund portrays a New Orleans gator hunter. He and his son are attacked and brutally murdered by an unseen assailant. It’s a nice opening sequence that harkens back to the opening of the original Friday the 13^th (1980).

The story then shifts to Ben (Joel David Moore) and Marcus (Deon Richmond), two college buddies out on the town in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. Ben is in the dumps since he and girlfriend split and Marcus is trying to cheer him up by taking him to Mardi Gras. The two find themselves taking a “haunted boat ride” into the swamp. The boat ride is captained by a young Asian man with a really bad “Nawleans” accent. Here we are introduced to the film’s cannon fodder. An older couple, a sleazy film maker and his two starlets and a quiet girl named Marybeth. Ben tries to hit on Marybeth but fails miserably. It turns out that Marybeth is the daughter of Robert Englund’s character at the beginning of the film and she has taken the ride in order to get out in the swamp and find her dad.

While on the trip the boat passes by an old shack which is supposedly haunted by a local legend by the name of Victor Crowley. Crowley is a disfigured man who was accidentally killed by his father, portrayed by Kane Hodder. Hodder is of course famous for portraying the maniacal, zombiefied killer in the Friday the 13^th series. Here is plays the father of Crowley in a flashback explaining his tragic death and the present day Crowley who haunts the woods. 

Victor Crowley Hatchet's man about town.

 

The group’s boat runs accidentally runs aground and they are forced to try and make their way back on land. Unfortunately they are stuck right by the house of Crowley. Here is where the movie takes off at full throttle. I’m not sure what else to do other than go for a body count. One of the first to die gets a multitude of hatchet blows to the shoulder. Crowley keeps hacking away while the guy is screaming. His wife gets off’d immediately following his demise. This has got to be the greatest head ripping effect I have ever seen. There is a quick cut where the camera revolves around the action and it completely makes the entire effect one of the most believable and nasty beheadings ever committed to film. I’m not going to go into each and every death but this first set of killings really hits you like a ton of lead. A couple of other highlights include a belt sander to the face and shovel decapitation.

Marybeth and Ben are the only two left after being chased throughout the woods and witnessing their friends die in various gruesome ways. The two lure Victor back into the old house and attempt to set him on fire, which works well until it begins to rain and the fire is extinguished. Victor chases them into an old cemetery where they finally impale Victor on an iron rod. The two try to make it to safety by boarding a John Boat and heading across the lake. The ending, which is kinda cool but I saw it coming a mile away, leaves avenues open for a sequel which went straight to video by the way.

Overall this is a great tribute to the great slashers of the 80’s and plenty of fun to watch. I didn’t find myself annoyed by all the characters, a flaw with many of the slashers that spilled out in the theaters and video shelves and I actually was rooting for Victor! Well, I think I always root for the killer in these movies so I guess that’s nothing new. One of these days I will have to check out the sequel. Hopefully it’s somewhere near as good the original.