Danielle Harris:  Marybeth
Kane Hodder:  Victor Crowley /
                           Thomas Crowley
Tony Todd:  Reverend Zombie
Tom Holland:  Bob
R.A. Mihailoff:  Trent
Perry Shen:  Justin

Release Date: February 11th, 2011
Studio: Dark Sky Films
Genre: Horror / Slasher
Unrated  1 hr 36 mins

CAST:

Hatchet II

February 26, 2011

Reviewer: Rottenbucher

DIRECTOR:

Adam Green

*Comments:

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For once, a film lived up to its marketing hype. Hatchet was truly old school horror in a slasher vein.  The original didn’t take itself seriously and really wasn’t very different from some of the early Friday the 13^th films; Deformed, legendary killer hacking, slashing and even belt sanding people to death in a remote location. While nothing ground-shaking, considering that Hatchet was one of the few horror films in 2006 to not be a remake, a sequel or direct-to-DVD tripe made it special in numerous ways.  The nostalgia was so nifty, the gore was so great and the splatter so spectacular, the film demanded a sequel. Hatchet II brings back the gas-powered belt sander and picks up moments after the conclusion of the original.

In a haunted swamp tour gone awry, a handful of people were hacked up in a dark, soggy and restricted New Orleans bayou. Marybeth (Danielle Harris, Halloween 4, 5, Rob Zombie’s Halloween, Halloween II) escapes the mangled paws of the hulking Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder, Friday the 13^th 7, 8, Jason Goes to Hell, Jason X).  In a quest to avenge not only the deaths of her family and the tour boat patrons, sole survivor Marybeth urges the Voodoo priest turned haunted swamp tour boat owner Reverend Zombie (Tony Todd, Candyman, Final Destination, The Crow) to take on Crowley.  Rev. Zombie employs a bunch of redneck hunters in hopes of actually killing the mythical Crowley and re-opening the swamps for his trademark tours.  Except this expedition has a slight hitch.  Rev. Zombie knows that Crowley is no ghost and that Marybeth is the key to ending the beast’s curse as her deceased family member actually unleashed Crowley.

Going back into the swamp is a good thing.  Danielle Harris is a memorable scream queen and Tony Todd adds great depth to a character that originally was just a cameo in the first film.  With nods to the genre, R.A. Mihailoff (Leatherface;Texas Chainsaw Massacre III) and genre director Tom Holland (Fright Night, Child’s Play) also appear in sizeable roles.  But the real star of Hatchet II is the gore. And it is gore galore. There is beheading, chainsaw vivisecting, evisceration, full-body degloving, face smashing, brain sanding, skull splitting, impaling, and even a few deaths that are hard to describe.  And the guts and gore soak the sets and give the swamp plenty of additional moisture.

Actually the only noticeable difference between Hatchet and Hatchet II is Harris taking over the role of Marybeth. You could watch both films back to back; much like the original Halloween and Halloween II.  While that was the same night, Hatchet II is the next entire day. The continuity for the 4-year gap between films is amazing and the feel of the original is completely intact.  The only issue is that Hatchet II doesn’t really progress from the original except for a sizeable flashback giving the details of Crowley’s birth.  Other than that, Marybeth continues her quest to avenge the death of her family by the hands of Crowley. It’s just that now she has the help of a posse rather than some unsuspecting tourists and Crowley still has plenty of power tools and gas to make a mushy mess of anyone visiting his damp, moss-covered turf.

If you weren’t impressed by or enjoyed Hatchet, you will not like Hatchet II.  If you loved Hatchet and want to see Crowley continue to kill, you will love Hatchet II.  And that is that.  There is no other way around it as it is a film for the fans of the original only.  And honestly, if you haven’t seen the first, you can start with the second.  In some ways, starting with Hatchet II is the way to go.  While Halloween, Friday the 13^th, A Nightmare on Elm St., The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, My Bloody Valentine, Prom Night and countless other cult slashers from the late 70s and 80s have been driven into the ground and poorly remade, Hatchet comes along with an exceptionally simple tale and in two movies, delivers a body count that took most franchises 6 sequels to achieve and none of their remakes even came close to.  The question remains: Will Victor Crowely rise again? Hopefully!  Highly recommended for gore hounds and slasher fiends.