mem·o·ry·less·ness

October Horror Films 2011 | Day 30 | Hatchet (dir. Adam Green; ArieScope Pictures/High Seas Entertainment/Radioaktive Film 2007)

Brief review:  Hatchet is about a group of people on a “haunted swamp tour” near New Orleans.  The film stars Kane Hodder as Victor Crowley, a deformed man who was accidentally killed by getting hit in the face by a hatchet while his father was trying to rescue him from a burning house.  His ghost roams the woods near the house, searching for his father and killing anyone who gets close to the house.

I really like Hatchet.  I had seen it previously, during its theatrical run (2007).  We also watched Hatchet II last October.  It’s a cool-yet-simple story that, though derivative of 1980s slasher films (which seems to be what writer/director Adam Green was going for, based on the tagline “Old School American Horror”), still feels new.  When I first saw the poster, I thought it was an adaptation of the 1987 novel with the same name (which I liked), until I saw the rating.  In my opinion, this is among the best slasher movies of the last ten years (and it’s probably the best that isn’t a remake or a sequel).  I recommend Hatchet to fans of Kane Hodder and fans of 1980s slasher movies and other “Old School American Horror.”

Bonus:  This film features appearances by Robert Englund, Joshua Leonard, and Tony Todd. Also, the credits (opening and closing) are accompanied by a Marilyn Manson song (the same song; the opening is he album version and the closing is a remix).

Trailer: