Hatched Unrated Version DVD Review

Written by: Bulin   

Any one else been waiting for this one for what seemed like years?  I know I have been.  The trailer with the creepy little girl voiceover rocked.

Ok, after about 2 years of internet hype, the independent film Hatchet finally was released on dvd on December 18th.  I watched it on the day it was released but waited until watching it one more time to actually write the review.  The movie is a throwback to the 80’s slashers, particularly Friday the 13th, which is fitting as Kane Hodder, former Jason in the latter sequels, portrays Alister Crowley’s father in a cameo appearance as well as the deformed Alister himself.

Kane is one of many famous horror actors to make an appearance in Hatchet, most famous others include Tony Todd (Candyman) and Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger). If you cut your horror eyeteeth on the 80’s, you will love this film! The plot is cheesy and there are intentionally funny moments as the film has enough sense to not take itself too seriously. The location is the Swamps near New Orleans, specifically the area where Alister Crowley, a deformed child (who bears a striking resemblance to Jason at the end of the original F13!) lived with his father before his accidental death. Other than the Crowleys the plot centers around a group of tourists who are in the swamp on a nighttime “Ghost Tour.”   Fun sidenote, one of the tourists is the guy in Office Space  who wins a frivilous lawsuit and quits work to develop his invention, a "Jump to Conclusions" mat.  Sorry, ADD kicked in for a minute there.... 

 The atmosphere was very good and really set the mood. Overall an excellent film. There were a few effects among the many, many grisly deaths that fell a little short and I wasn’t overwhelmed with the actual Alister Crowley prosthetics but overall it was refreshing to see a movie targeted for us, the horror fans and not for the mainstream. There was 0 cgi though and that was refreshing to this old gore hound. Definitely worth renting and Horror Aficionados can go ahead and pick this one up, it will wind up in your permanent collection.