During his heartfelt introductions at the Los Angeles and London premieres for this movie, Adam Green cited how his hero Wes Craven's death had affected him so strongly, that it brought him back to his own series again, and made him realize that Hatchet is one of his own biggest contributions to the genre. While Craven's death put the notion of returning to Hatchet in Green's mind, it was another of his heroes, George A. Romero, specifically telling him to make more Hatchet films for the fans, that solidified his decision to make a fourth Hatchet. Romero passed away just thirty-seven days before the surprise unveiling of this movie on August 22, 2017, and Green stated that this movie would not exist if not for Romero's pep talk assuring him that what he did as a filmmaker mattered, and was needed for the genre. At the London premiere on August 26, 2017, a photo of the moment when Romero had told Green to make another Hatchet film was put up on the screen behind Green. An emotional Green pointed to the sky and dedicated the film to Wes Craven and George A. Romero, who inspired him to ever try and make horror films in the first place. The film itself has a dedication to both filmmakers in the end credits.
The moments where Kristina flashes her breasts and Linus exposes his genitals to Andrew during the bookstore signing were altered for all digital/streaming versions of the film and the shots were re-framed to not show the nudity. Director Adam Green has expressed severe disappointment over this decision as the full frontal male nudity was done as a commentary about the slasher sub genre's trope of always having gratuitous female nudity. The theatrical cut of the film and all physical media (Blu-Ray and DVD) have the bookstore scene intact and play out as the filmmaker intended.
This movie marks Parry Shen's fourth time in a Hatchet film, and a continuation of "Andrew", the character he played in Hatchet III (2013). Shen played the roles of brothers "Sean" in Hatchet (2006), and "Justin" in Hatchet II (2010), before returning as an unrelated character named "Andrew" in Hatchet III (2013). Adam Green has referred to Shen as the "true final girl" of his slasher series, and has often cited him as his "secret weapon" in making the movies, due to his incredible professionalism and work ethic, that inspires everyone on-set around him. During the Q&A after the Hollywood premiere, Kane Hodder (Victor Crowley) joked that he just can't seem to kill Parry Shen for good, in any of the Hatchet films, no matter how hard he tries.
This movie received a standing ovation from the audience in London after its European premiere on August 26, 2017 at Frightfest UK. It was only the second time a film had received a standing ovation in the festival's eighteen-year history. The only other standing ovation had been for filmmaker George A. Romero, who also happened to be the person who told Green to make another Hatchet film in the first place.
Victor Crowley's voice for all of the Hatchet films is primarily a blend of actor Kane Hodder and director Adam Green's voices mixed together and pitched down. Animal sounds including sea lions, bears, and lions are also mixed in to create Victor's voice at times. When Victor Crowley's signature "Daddy" cry was created for the first film, Adam Green added the voice of Kane's son Jace (who was still a very young child at the time) into the mix. This made the iconic character's ghostly voice extra chilling as if you listen closely in all of the Hatchet films you can hear an innocent child's voice echoing in all of Victor's off-screen mournful cries for his father.