Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet

You have to at least show some respect for writer/director Frank Sabatella. For his debut long-feature "Blood Night" he did absolutely nothing special or innovative, but nevertheless delivered a hugely amusing and 100% unpretentious slasher movie that gave me personally a lot of viewing pleasure! It actually pretty much seems like Sabatella simply opened the big unwritten book of horror movie clichés and stereotypes and processed every single one in his screenplay. Literally everything you can think of is present here: the intro with a flashback set in the gritty 1970's, a dark ominous asylum, perverted night guards, horny drunken teenagers, Ouija boards, the creepy but wise cemetery caretaker, evil heritages, actors that are way too old for their teenage character roles and a whole lot of graphic axe-murders! Mary Hatchet is the nickname of a local anti-heroine whose murderous rampage became a holiday more popular than Halloween. She butchered her parents with an axe in 1978, but really went berserk in 1989, when she delivered a stillborn baby as a result of being raped by a guard. Twenty years after her death, a bunch of teenagers passes by her grave with a Ouija board before heading home and party hard. It doesn't take long before the dim- witted teenagers are knocked off one by one, seemingly by the hand of the resurrected Mary Hatchet herself. "Blood Night" is – plain and simple – pure brainless horror entertainment. Yes, the gory make-up effects are utterly grotesque and fake and there isn't a single moment of suspense to detect in the entire film, but I don't think anyone can claim they were bored whilst watching this. The characters are walking, talking stereotypes that deliver the utmost idiotic lines, but somehow they come across as realistic. Last but not least, Sabatella managed to engage two famous horror names for his modest production, namely veteran Bill Moseley and upcoming starlet Danielle Harris. Recommended if you're looking for … nothing special except a good hour and a half of sheer entertainment.

There's really not much that needs to be said about this. If you've watched the Hatchet flicks, this is more of the same. If you expect to find ANY of the following, then you're in the WRONG place:

• well developed story
• Oscar caliber acting
• prophetic story telling and plot
• likeable & defined characters

Now...on the other hand, if you are looking for any of THESE, you're in the RIGHT place:

• schlocky indie horror,
• "teenage" nudity and gratuitous sex that has nothing to do with the story,
• "teenage" kids making asinine decisions, like going outside alone to check on why the lights just went out, or following a trail of blood (alone) while freaked out, or...well, you get the picture,
• tons of blood and gore via adequate fx,
• Bill Moseley,
• the cute-as-a-button Danielle Harris,
• 80ish minutes of completely mindless killing.

So come on folks. Stop giving this film bad reviews. 'Cause if you actually come in to this expecting more than it is, you should be the one receiving the bad review.

Just caught this at a special screening in NYC. I was excited to be a part of this very intimate show. This film had all the makings of an effective boiler-plate horror flick: Ghosts, murderous town history, sex, insane asylums... How could it possibly go wrong, right?

Well, for starters it was terminally boring and terribly executed. Amateur is a perfect adjective to describe it. There are ZERO scares or even minor cheap thrills. The direction sucked out any life this movie could have had. Danielle Harris should fire her agent.

Honestly, I really really wanted to like this movie - but it offered nothing.

The gore was awfully phony. No direct contact shots, only reactions by bored and untalented actors followed by shots of prop heads being cut in half. Again, amateur.

Ugh, and the score... I'm speechless.

I can even forgive a lot of this if only there was something, anything to grab onto. Unfortunately there was nothing of value in what seemed like the longest 90 minutes ever. Too bad.

Quick note: Where does a girl raised in an insane asylum get fake breasts? (HA!!)

parricidal Mary Mattock (Samantha Facchi) is constrained at sanatorium for much of her growing years – catatonic until one traumatic experience makes her go loony again, slaughtering the hospital staff and killed in process by police.

After 20-years, the psychotic Mary 'Hatchet' has turn into an urban legend. High-school seniors commemorate Mary's death as blood night - partying and reveling all over the town.

The night celebration will soon transforms into unbridled terror for one group of friends.

Abundant of nudity & sexy shots smooth over the dull parts before the killings starts. Nifty gore effects considering the modest budget.

Debuting writer-director Frank Sabatella has an eye for bloodletting (one victim's innards is 'spaghetti-zed') but lacks experience in other departments.

An honest review. As far as gore is concerned, pretty much every gag is a shot of blood spattering the wall (or something else), followed by dummy work. Often, the most basic moments misfire. There's a "door flying off the hinges" gag that is so poorly done I watched it a few times in slow motion to see if I missed something.

The performances are pretty bad. Bill Moseley is stuck reciting dialogue that Bruce Lee couldn't jiu-jitsu into something resembling human speech, and Danielle Harris seems genuinely bored to be in the picture. And we spend way too much time with the (not particularly interesting) characters. The entire second act is a trite, bloodless party scene (save for a corny flashback).

Kind of garden variety if you ask me. If you like bad movies, you may find some novelty. But it's certainly not one of the better slashers.

• Saintthomas1985 (check out all my reviews!!!)