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Reviews
STAR RATINGS EXPLAINED
Unmissable 5 Stars
Excellent 4 Stars
Good 3 Stars
Poor 2 Stars
Tragic 1 Star

POSTER ART
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FILM DETAILS
Certificate
18
Cast
Joel Moore
Tamara Feldman
Marybeth
Deon Richmond
Mercedes McNab
Kane Hodder.
Directors
Adam Green.
Screenwriters
Adam Green.
Running Time
85 minutes

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Hatchet
The horror, the horror...


Plot
When a group of tourists find themselves lost in a haunted New Orleans swamp, their evening of fun gets slashed into a horrific nightmare...

Review
Hatchet
Berserking it like Scream never happened, Adam Green’s salute to the slasher’s gory days is well-tutored in the old school, but in serious need of a lesson in suspense.

More scenario than plot, the movie sends two college kids (Joel Moore and Deon Richmond) plus assorted bimbo axe-fodder into the New Orleans swamps on a boat tour gone wrong, and dumps them on the doorstep of the local mutant hick.

The first act plays like a corny fratboy comedy; the rest a headless-chicken run-around as coherence gives way to lurid carnage. Green worked on an aborted Cabin Fever sequel, and for all its retro licks, that’s what Hatchet recalls most: an uneven comedy-horror homage that gets by on enthusiasm.


Verdict
Like Scream never happened, this is an uneven comedy-horror homage that gets by on enthusiasm alone.


Reviewed by Simon Crook

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Your Reviews

Average user rating for Hatchet
Empire Star Rating

tp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0422401/]Hatchetnd the award for most brutal and original murders of the past few years goes to: Hatchet! A cool homage to the 80s slashers in wich a group of tourist end up in the empty and scary forest around New Orleans. This is at once a well made film that has a bunch of great scares but at the same time doesn`t take itself too seriously. Very fun and entertaining watch. Looking forward to part 2! /b] The "uneven"mix that Empire`s talking about: ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by TheGodfather at 10:53, 19 September 2010 | Report This Post


Empire = Wrong

As a brainless slasher movie, it's great fun. Empire, why did you review this as a piece of disinguished horror? It's just a laugh. It's got Kane Frickin Hodder in it too! ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by RevolloveR at 22:23, 08 February 2009 | Report This Post


crap? thats the bloody point.

in the style of Friday 13th and others this is pure slasher: gore, insane killer that cant be stopped, shite acting and getting great enjoyment out of seeing a slut get a face lift from a psycho with a sanding machine. And lets face it excluding about 3, the slasher films are poo but in a strange way isn't that what makes them in a way ..umm ... good? ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by luigisib at 22:50, 13 June 2008 | Report This Post


crap? thats the bloody point.

in the style of Friday 13th and others this is pure slasher: gore, insane killer that cant be stopped, shite acting and getting great enjoyment out of seeing a slut get a face lift from a psycho with a sanding machine. And lets face it excluding about 3, the slasher films are poo but in a strange way isn't that what makes them in a way ..umm ... good? ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by luigisib at 22:50, 13 June 2008 | Report This Post


crap? thats the bloody point.

in the style of Friday 13th and others this is pure slasher: gore, insane killer that cant be stopped, shite acting and getting great enjoyment out of seeing a slut get a face lift from a psycho with a sanding machine. And lets face it excluding about 3, the slasher films are poo but in a strange way isn't that what makes them in a way ..umm ... good? ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by luigisib at 22:50, 13 June 2008 | Report This Post


Log!

I'm glad I watched a illegal download of this shit because if I'd paid admission price I'd be taking Green to the small claims court. Enthusiasm is all very admirable but doesn't warrant an extra star. ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by carmbler at 11:09, 24 March 2008 | Report This Post


Oh man...

I agree with damn i'm good!... That is harsh. Summing up act 1 as a frat-boy comedy is spot on, but criticizing it for it's lack of suspense? Come on! The whole film is a comedy! I laughed my ass of at the asian tour-guide putting on the New Orleans accent ('Y'all try the crawfish?')... And the cameos are just perfect. It's a bit misleading to slap Englunds AND Todds names on the cover, but they both did a great job. I loved the fact that Old pizza face himself paid a long overdue hommage to Dea... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by presidentcletus at 14:26, 31 October 2007 | Report This Post


RE: Nowhere near perfect but worth a watch.

Finally saw this today after waiting what seemed like ages for it to be released. Hatchet is a good slasher flick, made memorable by the inventive grisly kills. It's not however, the next great horror film as some would have you believe mainly due to the fact that its not in the least bit scary. Well worth a watch for horror fans, and yes, even after reading criticism of the ending I must say I was still a bit taken back by it! 3 stars   ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by skeletonjack at 19:50, 11 October 2007 | Report This Post


Nowhere near perfect but worth a watch.

Tries to hard at times to play up the comedy angle, but once the killings start......very gory, very clever. Surely the sequel (there must be one!) will improve on this, and not get worse.... ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by VincentHanna at 18:55, 08 October 2007 | Report This Post


Thats harsh Empire!

I saw this earlier in the year,and thought it was pretty good. It's a low budget tribute to the slasher flicks of the eighties, and works well. No,it's not scary, and it's tongue is set firmly in it's cheek, but it is entertaining, inventive and funny. 3/5 from me. ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by damn im good! at 09:42, 05 October 2007 | Report This Post


RE: Hatchet

Just saw Hatchet a few days ago, I became interested in it after hearing that it was a smash-hit at various film-festivals. The film was marketed as "old-school American Horror", which it very much is. An homage of sorts to the slasher movies of the late 70s and 80s, no holds barred. The tagline of the film, "It's not a remake. It's not a sequel. And it's not based on a Japanese one.", is fairly clunky, but amusing and entertaining, which in turn reflects the actual film pretty well. The plo... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by Kazuya at 17:25, 03 October 2007 | Report This Post


ITS NO REMAKE

So lets go back to a time when films were not just a bunch of remakes and cash in's and your left with stalk n slash time some would say the golden age of horror the 80s. so you take some teenagers, a few horror icon actors,a premise that wouldn't put the weinstein's to shame a director who loves horror,and a new killer, victor crowley mix them up and you get hatchet. This has spent the past year or so doing the festival circuit,and while it may have a great following on that scene it may w... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by calisto at 04:40, 03 October 2007 | Report This Post



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