Butcher II

With 80's slashers, their effect on me is actually relaxing. We have a bunch of characters who the filmmaker generally deems worthless (except a few, who make it to the end) so that we don't have to actually invest anything until their inconsequential deaths, clear, simple-minded notions of good and evil, and contrived mechanisms that explain them away (the evil presence is usually described by some kind of simplified trauma). None of this happens in real life, so none of this actually has potential to breach the divide and actually unsettle. It's a movie fantasy, one oddly espousing deeply conservative values (prudence is generally rewarded) that fly in the face of the crowd that avidly sees them.

Like the first Hatchet, this is a knowingly cartoonish version of this. The deaths are delightfully absurd. At some point the baddie in this, Vincent Crowley, shows up with a chainsaw six feet long. The film knows what part it plays in the tradition and has fun with it.

What is actually problematic about these films is that, for all the parody, they still posit themselves as straight slasher films. It doesn't work, the hackneyed plot above all where a band of mercenaries is hastily assembled to venture into the bayou. Or what they aim to do once there.

The Japanese as usual are more savvy about this kind of thing. In films like The Machine Girl, they put together all kinds of cultural stamps they have produced and obsessed over the years (video games, anime, martial arts, extreme violence, erotica) and obliterate one against the other.

Here, I assume the filmmaker doesn't have a grasp of how the pastiche can be made to work. Probably because he doesn't understand or care to anything other than this kind of film. The splatter works, what's around it not so much.

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!

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

There wasn't much difference between this sequel and the first movie. Pretty much the exact same thing happens. This time the girl, Mary Beth, whom survived the first night is back to return to the swamp with Rev Zombie's help for a really stupid reason: to bring back the bodies of her family. So Zombie gathers a crew and they go to the swamp that night. Zombie has a plan to put an end to Crowley's ghost.

Do plans ever work with freaky killers-No! So you get more blood and gore and skulls bashed in, plus some faces cut off.

FINAL VERDICT: If you never have your fill of slasher films, check it out.

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.