FF 2013 - Hatchet III Review

Rating:18:
Release Date: 23rd August 2013 (Frightfest)
Director:BJ McDonnell
Cast: Danielle Harris, Kane Hodder, Zach Galligan, Derek Mears
The final(?) film in the trilogy, Hatchet III loses the series’ director, Adam Green, replacing him with BJ McDonnell, who has previously carved out a career as cam/steadicam operator on a ton of movies – including one of my all-time favourite flicks, How to Rob a Bank. However all is not lost as Green is still on board as the films guiding light and scriptwriter for this tale which picks up immediately where the second film left off.

In Hatchet III our heroine Marybeth (Harris) has finally “killed” Victor Crowley (Hodder) – or so she thinks. When she shows up at the police station covered in blood the sheriff (Galligan) doesn’t believe her story and locks her up while he sends a search and recovery team out to the haunted swamp to find out what has gone on and to pick up the pieces left behind after Crowley’s previous massacre. Meanwhile Marybeth finally learns the secret to ending the voodoo curse that has left Victor Crowley haunting and terrorizing Honey Island Swamp for decades.

When I originally heard the news that Adam Green was stepping down from the directors chair for this third film in the series, I questioned the sanity of letting someone new helm what was to be the last outing for Victor Crowley. However, knowing BJ McDonnell worked on the first two Hatchet movie’s and having seen his filmography and watched the finished film I know exactly why McDonnell was given the reigns for this movie – he has an eye for action, and Hatchet III is filled to the brim with huge action set pieces as the trilogy goes big for its epic finale, out-doing all that has come before in terms of violence, gore and body count.

Third films can be tricky, especially when it comes to horror franchises. Some get it right revitalising a worn seires, like Nightmare on Elm Street 3 but many get it wrong. If I’m truly honest Hatchet III sits somewhere in between, mainly because it sacrifices scares for spectacle. But what spectacle… There are some truly outrageous gore scenes, going even further than the previous film, easily surpassing even the ridiculous chainsaw death that marked the end of Hatchet II – a scene which is actually repeated in the opening of this flick.

But, and this is a big but, where Hatchet III does rise above the former films is in it’s story. Adam Green has crafted a script that offers twists and turns, wraps up plot threads that have proliferated the series from the very first film, makes nods to other movies AND is also a love letter to fans of the franchise – a thank you note if you will to all those that love the series and have been there since the beginning.

Yet what is noticeable when comparing this film to its predecessor’s is the quality of some of the practical effects (yes Green and co. still keep all the effects CGI-free thankfully). Whether the “rubbery-ness” is due to budgetary constraints I don’t know, however the cheesy FX work plays well into the idea that the Hatchet series harkens back to the heyday of the 80s slasher movies, a lot of which were shot on a shoe-string budget and had to make the most of the effects they could afford. Speaking of FX, Victor Crowley himself has had a makeover in this flick, allowing horror icon Kane Hodder to emote much more this time round (well as much as the monstrous Crowley can).

Of course besides the returning Kane Hodder as Victor Crowley and Danielle Harris as Marybeth, Hatchet III features a ton of familiar faces including Gremlins’ Zach Galligan as the Sheriff; former Jason Vorhees Derek Mears; Sean Whalen (Special Unit 2); Parry Shen, who’s played three different characters in all three Hatchet movies; The FP’s Jason Trost; and, best of all, Stretch from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2! Aka actress Caroline Williams. This really is a veritable who’s-who of genre flicks, with some surprise cameos and roles I’m not going to spoil in this review, but I will say it all adds an extra layer of fun for both horror fans and fans of the Hatchet series.

In the end Hatchet III is a fantastic end to the franchise, filled with all the hallmarks of the series – laughs, violence, action and gore – whilst being a fitting swansong for Victor Crowley and co. Not as stunning as the previous film but still a great “old-school American horror”.

★★★½☆

Review by Phil Wheat at Nerdly.co.uk

Chillerama - Adam Green Interview

Adam ‘Hatchet Man’ Green talks about the future of the genre, why he turned about ABC’s Of Death, his new movie inspired by the artist Alex Pardee and courting controversy as CHILLERAMA gets its Horror Channel UK TV premiere on Sat 30th March at 10.55pm

Q: Your story for Chillerama could be looked at as being controversial by some, how did you pitch it to the other directors?

AG: Actually, Adam Rifkin pitched me the title (The Diary Of Anne Frankenstein) when the four of us first met up to discuss potentially doing this project. He said, “Green, you’re Jewish- you should do Anne Frankenstein.” I said, “But Rifkin, you’re Jewish, too. Why don’t you take that one?” He replied, “Yeah, but what if instead you did it?” And that was sort of it. Though the phrase “the diary of Anne Frankenstein” is a joke that’s been around for decades, I have to admit I was still scared to death of it at first. I mean, who wants to touch that title with a ten-foot pole? Unfortunately, we live in a world full of people who literally seek out reasons to be offended and who love nothing more than to be “outraged” so that they can get attention. Especially coming off of Hatchet 2 and all of the controversy I had just lived through with that film’s public battle with the MPAA and its assassination from cinemas here in the US… the last thing I wanted was to be put in the spotlight for ridiculous negative reasons again. However, I immediately came up with the idea of doing a piece that would be a complete mockery of Hitler and not something that could possibly be taken seriously.

Q: To me its Monty Python at its creative peek meets classic Universal horror, would you agree?

AG: Wow. That’s a very big compliment and yes, that was exactly what I was going for. I walk away from every screening feeling so incredibly proud of the piece. Reviews, awards, and accolades… those are all nice. But as a comedian, there is no feeling of accomplishment greater than hearing an audience howl with laughter to the point that they drown out the film itself. You can’t fake laughter like that. There are no politics or agendas behind that kind of uproarious laughter. It’s the most primal and real reaction you can hope to get and when it happens universally across oceans and language barriers… it’s a wonderful thing.

Q: Do you think the horror genre is in good health at the moment?

AG: I’m excited to see what the next decade will hold. Looking back, filmmakers my age who came onto the scene in the past ten years or so were saddled with some very difficult hurdles. Not only was the “trend” all about remakes over originals (both with the studios who churned the remakes out and the fans who supported them in droves) but we also saw the indie financing industry take a nosedive with budgets and distribution as internet piracy wreaked havoc on us. There was never a harder time than this past decade to get an original (decent budgeted) horror movie made and distributed. But now that remakes have kind of run their course they’re now out of recognizable titles to remake and people are starting to see the light about internet piracy I am optimistic that more and more original horror movies will get a chance to be made and to be seen. As a genre- we’re always alive and well. Horror will never die and we will always survive the passing trends because we’re a “community” unlike fans of other genres. Just walk by the “sleepy queue” for FrightFest later this summer and look at the die hard fans standing in line over-night for tickets (not even knowing 100% what the programming will exactly be yet). Of course we’re fine! We’ve got zombies! The rest of ya’ll are f***** though.

Q: You must be pleased Chillerama is getting its UK premiere on the Horror Channel?

AG: I’ve had a very special connection with the UK audience ever since Hatchet first premiered at UK FrightFest in 2006 and so I’m always especially excited when a new film of mine premieres across the pond. The Horror Channel has been incredibly supportive of my career over the years so this is like a double-win. Who knows? Perhaps Holliston will wind up on the Horror Channel when it arrives in the UK? You never know!

Q: Would you like to be part of another anthology film such as the recent ABCs Of Death?

AG: I was approached for “ABC’s Of Death” when they first started putting the project together but I passed. I was in the middle of post-production on Chillerama when they started assembling their team of directors and the thought of doing another anthology film at that time just wasn’t appealing to me, as fun as the project sounded and as terrific as the people behind it were. While I can never say “never”, right now another anthology just isn’t in the cards for me. Remember, with Chillerama I didn’t just write and direct a segment. My company (ArieScope Pictures) also produced it and put the money and distribution together to make it happen. That’s a hell of a lot of responsibility/heartache and so I couldn’t just make my segment and “let the chips fall where they may”. When you produce a film it is essentially an STD for your company. It never goes away and it is never really over. Wait, did I really just compare Chillerama to syphilis? Yup. Have at it, critics and haters. You’re welcome for that one.

Q: How much involvement have you had with Hatchet III?

AG: I wrote it, I produced it, I’m presenting it, I cast most every actor in it, I was there for every step of pre-production, filming, and post-production, I surrounded our new director with my incredible ArieScope crew, and I had final cut of the film. So let’s just say that it won’t feel like I ever left. If you’re a fan of the first two films I think you’re going to really like what we did with Hatchet III.

Q: So what are you working on at the moment?

AG: Right now I’m finishing up post-production on the second season of my television series Holliston. It’s a massive undertaking each season given that I wear so many hats on the show (writing every episode, being the show runner, directing, and playing one of the main four characters) but it’s far and away my favourite and the most personal project I’ve ever done. Holliston is an absolute joy to work on and I go to work every day surrounded by only my closest of friends. I’m so excited that we’ll soon be starting the process of bringing the series to the rest of the world and we’re all blown away by how quickly and passionately the audience in America embraced this show and this cast. Next week I kick off my tour in support of Hatchet III and the launch of Season 2 of Holliston so I’m basically in a different place every weekend until the end of summer/early Fall. I’m also in the process of shooting Digging Up The Marrow, a “documentary” (kinda) about monsters (sorta) that is inspired by the art of the insanely talented artist, Alex Pardee. We’re keeping the details of that one under wraps for now, but what I can say is that collaborating with a genius like Alex has proved to be a completely soul inspiring and creative re-awakening for not only myself, but for my core crew as well.

Adam Green, thank you very much.

TV: Sky 319 / Virgin 149 / Freesat 138
www.horrorchannel.co.uk | twitter.com/horror_channel

Victor Crowley Is Back Watch Hatchet 3 Teaser Trailer!

Watch your back as Victor Crowley is back!Adam Green's ever popular serial killer returning for a third outing despite his untimely death he's making sure he'll get his Horror icon status returning for another day, but what makes Hatchet so popular? They keep it old school from old school special effects, plenty of gore and keep everything fun!

Hatchet 3 sees Adam Green hand over the directors chair to BJ McDonnell who was in charging of camera for the first two films hence the third been his directoral debut. Danielle Harris returns  along with Kane Hodder (as Victor), they are joined by Zach Galligan (Gremlins), Derek Mears, Caroline Williams, Sean Whalen. No word on a UK release date but the film will get a limited cinema release on 14th June.

Synopsis

The film continues the tale of the now-iconic villain Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder). As a search and recovery team heads into the haunted swamp to pick up the pieces and carnage left behind from the first two films, Marybeth (Danielle Harris) hunts down the true secret to ending the voodoo curse that has left the ghost of Victor Crowley haunting and terrorizing Honey Island Swamp for decades