Hatchet II

Hatchet II finds itself starting literally where the previous one left off. However, very noticeable changes are all too apparent in nearly every aspect of the movie, besides the outrageous gore. Marybeth has been recast and while I like Danielle Harris, I have to agree with others on saying it took basically the whole movie to figure out the character. When a character get's recast, the actor is likely not going to play them the same way and Harris' performance was different than Feldman's. Marybeth also seemed different from the previous movie since she was a strong female character, but is now more of a crybaby who needs men to save her. The change in Crowley's makeup is also clearly different and it was not as good. Now before you go all crazy and get upset at me, take a look at my Hatchet review, I enjoyed that movie a great deal. The first movie was humorous, did not take itself too serious and had characters that while stereotypical for a horror movie, you cared about most of them. Unfortunately, this sequel does not hold up to the original and it's a real shame considering I wanted to like this one just as much. Now, I don't hate it at all, but I just don't feel that it was a good movie, let alone a sequel. I am disappointed with Adam Green because he did such a good job with Hatchet and Frozen, yet this movie feels rushed and cheaply done. There is not as much humor in this one, unless you want to count the gore that is pretty ridiculous. I think where the first movie was something made just for the people who love those corny 80's slashers; this sequel is more for people who enjoy non-stop vicious gore. Don't get me wrong, it's not all the gore that makes this movie a bad second installment. It's the fact that they seemed to think up a dozen disgusting murders and build a movie around it. You pretty much hate or don't know most of the characters in this movie, so when their time comes, it doesn't matter. There is even a montage of flashbacks that shows several other people who were victims of Victor Crowley and they all suffer grotesque deaths.

The whole set up of the sequel is also a bit far-fetched. Marybeth's entire world has just been flipped upside down and she was nearly ripped to pieces by a deranged ghost-creature, yet she is willing to risk her life to go back to find him. I also find it strange that so many locals who know about the cursed swamps would actually go there all in the hopes that a well-known con-artist will pay them each $5,000. Green should have just kept Marybeth in the swamp and had a group of campers or tourists stumble onto her. I'm on the fence with the fact that they added an origin story to Victor Crowley and gave a reason for why Marybeth is connected to him. Most horror movies that try to go back and give an origin story for the villain usually end up being pretty bad, just look at Halloween 6. I wouldn't say it was a total fail because it was slightly interesting and for some reason it reminded me a little of Pumpkinhead. Some cameos you will undoubtedly notice are Mercedes McNab, Joleigh Fioravanti and Joel Murray (though it's only his voice). For anyone who saw Adam Green's other movie, Frozen, you might notice an Easter egg involving Emma Bell. If you haven't seen Frozen yet then I suggest you do that, great thriller. Shawn Ashmore and Joe Lynch also have some small cameos, so keep an eye out or you might miss them.

I guess Hatchet II could have been worse, though it's definitely not memorable like original. Some of the murders definitely stand out, but it's not an amazing sequel like many people are saying. I consider myself a big horror fan and it was only okay for me, but that is my opinion and others will have their own as well.

I saw "Hatchet 2" last night at the Fantsay Film Fest in Frankfurt, Germany and what I saw was just WOOOOW! I loved "Hatchet"...and this sequel is much better than the first one. "Hatchet 2" is funny and very, very violent. Now I know why it should be cut from the MPAA to get an R-rating. I think it's a good idea to release movies without any rating instead of cutting something out like other studios do because they want to make more profit. In "Hatchet 2" there are many kills on screen and they are very violent, very bloody & gory. One of them might be one of the funniest and most curious kills ever - the whole audience laughed and acclaimed loudly.

I enjoyed this movie all the time and I hope to see it again - uncut again!

After a very brief, derivative and clumsy justification for heading back to the swamp involving a young woman named Mary-Beth (Danielle Harris) looking for her family with a kooky sightseeing operator named Reverend Zombie (Tony Todd) back into Crowley's territory we go, along with fresh meat in the form of hired muscle being paid $500 per head, with a bonus to the guy who takes down Crowley.

Only as we see quite frequently in the latter half of the film, Crowley is not an easybeat, at near 7 foot, with a mangled face, huge guns and the ability to take a shotgun blast to the chest without wincing, it would have taken a lot more than five hundred clams to get me in the same state – let alone the same dark and gloomy swamp.

Victor is unstoppable, he is everywhere and can seemingly get anywhere instantaneously. He also has a bunch of toys that he utilises to disembowel, eviscerate, decapitate, violate and penetrate victims that number into the double digits.

No problem there of course this is a psycho killer flick. The problem is the lack of creativity used: victims inch about nervously, do the "did you hear that?" and stand awaiting their violent demise. There are no traps, no clever sleight of hand or tricks, Victor shows up in plain view – shows them his weapon du jour and uses it on them.

If it's a hatchet he hatchets them, a chainsaw? Saw 'em in half. A sander? Hello abrasions. The victims don't even fight back 90% of the time, they stand still and take their medicine like guys in a bad kung fu movie.

What makes that even worse is that I guarantee Mr Adam Green spent more time on the kills than he did coming up with the threadbare backstory and lousy plot, so you just expect more. Let's face it, after the first Nightmare on Elm St each sequel for a decade was exactly the same, you only watched them for the kill scenes and to see what ridiculous quips Freddy would come up with.

Victor doesn't talk, and his kill scenes suck. Even a few gratuitous boobies don't make the rest worth a glance.

I'd say the first half of Hatchet 2 is a bit sillier and even campier than the first, but the films last half-hour really makes up for it.

THis is one seriously gory flick. It's gorier than the original, and funnier than the original. It might actually be better than the original, but it's an awfully tight race.

Adam Green still has me on the edge of my seat waiting for his next horror project. Guess I'll have to wait for the DVD release of Hatchet 3 next month - even though he didn't direct.

Hatchet 2 is a little better than the original on the acting/cast front as well. In the original we see a bunch of undeveloped boobs getting knocked-off left and right. Here, there's a little more substance to who's getting their heads ripped off.

This thing gets pretty intense down the stretch. Thumbs up.

The very short theatrical run of the movie in the US is a shame. In the words of Mr. Green himself, it was the first major unrated release since the Original Dawn of the Dead. Which means, it did play in a lot of cinemas. Though I'm pretty sure with many regulations and other obstacles (apart from the fact, that you can't promote it).

Which is a shame, because this is not a torture movie or anything mental. It just tries to be a fun slasher. We might not get the whole story why it got withdrawn after just one weekend, but as it is, it's a sad testament of the current flow of cinema fodder we get.

Of course you might ask, if I say so many good things about the movie, why do I rate it quite low (3 points lower than the rating of the first movie)? This comes down to the story element of the movie. While Adam said himself, that people will criticize him for not delivering non-stop slasher, it comes down to the fact, that it just does not live up to the time it takes up.

In other words, it takes too long and the pacing seems off. Unfortunately one of the guys who was really funny (in Hatchet 1) is not back for more, but gets replaced by someone else who tries very hard to be funny, but just can't "cut" it (in my eyes).

But if you are in this for the kills and thrills, there is much to be had of those, especially in the second part of the movie. So if you don't mind the (disposable and sadly sometimes not very well acted) story element at the beginning ... go right ahead and watch this.

It is difficult to criticize something that just tries to be fun. And if you ever get a chance to meet Mr. Green in person, he is one hell of a guy. I can't wait to watch another one of his movies