Hatchet II (2010) Reviews

• Loved the first one, this one not so much

  MrPizza2010-10-04

  I loved the first film. I normally like straight-faced horror films (such as "Let the Right One In") but still enjoyed the humor-infused blood-fest that is "Hatchet." I was disappointed in this sequel. It looked cheaply made and wasn't as funny, but that's not its biggest problem. Unlike the first film, most of the characters are unlikeable so who cares if they get slaughtered? If you're only into gore, you'll get your fix here. This one works harder on being bloodier. I didn't like the change or additional information in the history of Victor Crowley, Marybeth and her dad. It really wasn't needed. Plus, after what she went through in the first film, I couldn't buy that Marybeth would go back for more, despite the reasons given. I also didn't care for Danielle Harris as Marybeth. As horror films go, it's not bad, it just doesn't have the clever wit of the first one, but it is gorier.

• Chet's Hat

  BakuryuuTyranno2011-11-12

  It started off quite different to the first; after spending some time explaining things about the killer however, things returned to campy slasher territory. This time, Tony Todd takes hunters into the woods so the cast consists of older people mostly. Perhaps because of watching many films commissioned by sci-fi channel I was familiar with films that featured gun-toting guys without much personality and I was surprised when the hunters had varying oddball personalities. Obviously bloody deaths occur. Basically its a film where descriptions can't substitute for watching it. It's highly entertaining though.

• Average-at-best slasher flick with plenty of gore.

  capkronos2014-08-27

  Marybeth Dunston (Danielle Harris) goes to Honey Island Swamp to search for her missing gator hunter daddy and her brother and runs afoul of Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder). After jabbing out his eye with her finger, she makes her way to a shack where Jack Cracker (John Carl Buechler) takes her in. That is, until he learns her last name. He then kicks her out and tells her to go see Clive Washington aka Reverend Zombie (Tony Todd). As Jack sits down to watch footage from "Bayou Beavers," Victor barges in, rips his intestines out and then uses then to strangle him and pop off his head. Afterward, Marybeth goes to see the Reverend and learns all about the curse of the Crowley family... and how her father was one of three kids responsible for setting the Crowley shack on fire, leading to the death of young Victor. As a result, his ghost has haunted the swamp ever since. Seeking vengeance for her family's murders, Marybeth strikes up a deal with Zombie: He'll have his assistant Justin (Parry Shen; playing the brother of the character he played in the original) organize a posse of hunters if she gets her uncle to come along on the expedition. Marybeth comes through on her end of the deal by convincing her Uncle Bob (Tom Holland, best known as the director of FRIGHT NIGHT and CHILD'S PLAY) to come, as does the Reverend, who's able to convince a handful of people to accompany them by promising 500 dollars just for coming and an additional 5000 for anyone who's able to "kill" Crowley. Kill a ghost? Yeah, I know. R.A. Mihailoff (Leatherface from TCM III) and AJ Bowen (THE SIGNAL) are among those along for the ride. The gang take their boats deep into the swamp where they're slaughtered in various ridiculous ways by the hulking, monstrous Crowley. This both looks and feels much cheaper than the first and that's no big surprise considering the original was shot on 35mm film for 1.5 million, while this one was shot on digital for half that budget. Still, this manages to make a few slight improvements. For starters, the obnoxious, childish comedy elements have been toned down a bit here, which, in my opinion, is a good thing. Second, there's a nice flashback sequence explaining the origins of the killer. And third, Tony Todd gets to play a leading role this time out and, as per his usual, does a great job holding things together. Harris, on the other hand, I did not like. Her character is pretty grating, one-note and shrill and her come-and-go Southern accent (I THINK that's what she was shooting for at least) is terrible. The rest of the cast is so-so, though Colton Dunn deserves a special shout-out for being pretty amusing in his small part. But let's get real here, the target audience isn't really going to care much about the dialogue, plot, acting or production values: they've come here for the gore, and this delivers on that front. The director seems especially fond of head and face mutilations. There's a face sliced off, a face chopped to a bloody pulp, a face smashed to a bloody pulp, a face chopped to bits by an outboard motor and a head getting sanded down (and then smashed in) with a belt sander. Green also lets his inner 11-year-old out with "funny" murders like a guy getting decapitated while screwing his ex-girlfriend, a girl getting a hatchet buried in her ass and two guys getting their crotches simultaneously chewed up with the most comically big chainsaw you'll ever see. There are lots of film references, in-jokes and cameos here, too. Emma Bell and Shawn Ashmore (two of the stars of the director's FROZEN) both show up for second-long cameos, a few of the actresses from the first HATCHET are seen in handy cam footage and, during the hunter's meeting, you can spot genre directors Lloyd Kaufman, Ryan Schifrin, Dave Parker and Mike Mendez. Green also gives himself a cameo puking up some creamed corn on a street corner. A classy fella he is.

• Have lotsa fun with your bloody hatchet!

  manjodude2011-02-07

  Hatchet II begins on quite a dull note of our leading lady(Danielle Harris) trying to get away from a hideous looking human. But just a few reels later, the roller-coaster ride of full-on violence & savage slaughter begins and the body count or body pieces rather, keep piling up till the topping at the finale :) When I saw the movie poster, I anticipated some dread thinking of all that slaying but when you actually watch the scenes, it looks comical! More like a gory comedy to me, made to induce laughter than fear. The story or the proceedings don't make sense in many places - dumb people who don't even make an escape move when the monster chases them down with a loooong chainsaw & some other similar stuff. But probably that's the only flipside. I was having enough fun watching the hacking & nudity :) I guess, this movie proves once again that slaughter & nudity in movies always gel very well, hehe. Nothing much to talk about the acting, except for Danielle Harris and Tony Todd(as Reverend Zombie). Both add to the excitement with their expressions of anguish, fear, desperation or cold anger. Verdict: Satisfies your dark fantasies. Hack, hack away :)

• I really wanted to love this movie :(

  atinder2010-12-24

  I love Hatchet, I think it one of best slasher movies to come out in the last few years. I really wanted to love this movie, the gore was good and some really good nasty gory deaths scenes, Victor did not look that scary this time around. I Really hate it when sequels recast one of the main characters in movie, (It did not work in A Nigthmare on elm street 4 and it did not work in this movie for me) I liked the old Marybeth better as I have seen her in 8 Simple Rules and USA High and then they replace her with the girl in this movie. New recast sucked all the fun out of this movie for me, it took me to long to get used to her playing Marybeth. Gory sequel. no were near as good as the first movie. I was dying to see this movie from the start of this years, I was saying I going to give this 10 out of 10 When come out but ended up giving it disappointing 5 out of 10 :(