Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet

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!!)

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.

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.

Long Island, NY, 1978: little Mary chops up her parents with an axe.

Eleven years later, and Mary, now a big breasted babe residing at Kings Park Psychiatric Centre, is raped by a night guard, resulting in the birth of a daughter nine months later. However, Mary is informed that her child died during delivery and, shortly after, she escapes leaving a trail of corpses behind her. Completely naked, covered in blood, and clutching a severed head, Mary is finally apprehended by the police, who shoot her dead.

Years later, the story of Mary Hatchet has become an local legend, the day of her death a public holiday during which teenagers get drunk and play pranks. But when a group of high school students go one step further and summon Mary's spirit with a Ouija board, Blood Night really lives up to its name...

Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet was never intended to be anything but a mindless gore-fest with some quality T&A, and to that end it succeeds brilliantly, but it would have been nice to have seen just a little more effort go into the story. Had the makers tried a tad harder in the plot department, then this film might possibly have become an instant all-time favourite, rather than simply 'fun while it lasts'.

Still, 'fun while it lasts' is better than no fun at all, and at least this one fulfilled my immediate desire to see a bunch of good looking teens getting it on before being slaughtered in a variety of very gruesome ways. After quite a bit of partying hard and a bit of slap and tickle—best moments: a discussion about whether thongs are better than boyshorts, and a lucky guy getting broken in by total hottie Jen (Maryam Basir)—the graphic bloodletting begins and continues unabated until the final frame. Gory delights include a bloke having his head cut in half during sex, a girl having her guts wound out with a pick-axe, and a face being sliced in half (the victim's brains spilling onto the floor).

6.5 out of 10, generously rounded up to 7 for all the boobs, buns and blood.

Teenager slasher movie just got slashed...

This movie had potential to be more than it turned out to be, especially with the background story that was there all lined up, but the ghost part of the movie sort of became background stuff when you learned who the killer was. And that was where the movie snapped in half.

The story, briefly summarized, is about Mary Mattock (aka Mary Hatchet) who killed her parents, then institutionalized, raped and murdered a bunch of orderlies before she was killed herself. And now she is out seeking revenge on every night of her death, on Blood Night. Alright, enough said about the storyline, because it is a fairly average run-of-the-mill slasher movie actually.

Not even Bill Moseley could keep this movie afloat, though it is always nice to see him in the roles he plays. However, the role in "Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet" was a bit tame and stereotypical. And he wasn't at his best here. The movie had some other fairly decent actors/actresses in it, but of course, no award-winning material here.

There were some fairly good moments of thrills and suspense throughout the movie, and the special effects were adequate enough to make it worthwhile. But for gorehounds, the effects would be a bit tame. But for those with less need for blood and gore, I think you are served just enough mayhem throughout the movie.

Given the average storyline of the movie, you pretty much know who will be killed, just a question of how. As for a girl nicknamed "Hatchet", she wasn't really living up to that title, because most killings were done with a pick axe.

In overall, the movie is an adequate experience, but nothing new to be seen here that haven't been seen in other slasher movies already. The ending of the movie, well, I thought it was alright actually. "Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet" is the type of movie that you watch once, then never pick it up again.