Fantastic Fest 2010

Director Adam Green, Stars Kane Hodder and Danielle Harris, and Producers Greg Newman, Jason Miller, and Derek Curl Live in Person!

HATCHET 2 picks up immediately from where its predecessor left off with Marybeth (this time played by Danielle Harris, of HALLOWEEN remake fame) escaping the clutches of the deformed and furious swamp dweller, Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder), after her swamp tour is massacred.

Heading back to town, Marybeth seeks out the help of the mysterious and thoroughly untrustworthy Reverend Zombie to bring the bodies of her family back from the swamp. Zombie agrees, provided she brings her uncle along too. Under somewhat false pretenses, the Reverend recruits an assorted band of mercenaries to ostensibly retrieve his boat and slay Crowley once and for all. Needless to say on entering the swamp it’s not long before Crowley appears to wreak bloody havoc.

For anyone not familiar with the original, there’s an entertaining catch-up on Crowley’s back story with Kane also starring, prosthetic-free, as his dad. It’s a variation on THE BURNING, but also recalls countless other 80s slashers. The build-up is surprisingly restrained and Green takes his time to introduce Crowley’s potential victims with some characteristically blokey humor, most notably in an inspired opening gambit involving some “found footage.” But what this is really about is a succession of glorious hack and slash sequences designed to satisfy the fans, and on those it certainly delivers, with old fashioned and apparently CGI-free effects.

Hatchet was always written with a sequel in mind so there are references galore for those in the know. Green also weighs in with allusions to his own work so far with FROZEN and his JACK CHOP short getting nods. This is Green having no-holds barred fun, and you’d have to be a sour grape not to be carried away with it. (Twitchfilm.net)

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