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STAR RATINGS EXPLAINED
5 Stars Classic
4 Stars Excellent
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1 Star Tragic

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 (18)

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Hatchet
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
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.


Reviewer: Simon Crook

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Your Reviews
Average user rating for Hatchet
Empire Star Rating

Empire = Wrong
Empire User Rating

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! ... Read More

RevolloveR About me
22:23, 08 February 2009 | Report This Post

crap? thats the bloody point.
Empire User Rating

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? ... Read More

luigisib About me
22:50, 13 June 2008 | Report This Post

crap? thats the bloody point.
Empire User Rating

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? ... Read More

luigisib About me
22:50, 13 June 2008 | Report This Post

crap? thats the bloody point.
Empire User Rating

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? ... Read More

luigisib About me
22:50, 13 June 2008 | Report This Post

Log!
Empire User Rating

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. ... Read More

carmbler About me
11:09, 24 March 2008 | Report This Post

Oh man...
Empire User Rating

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... Read More

presidentcletus About me
14:26, 31 October 2007 | Report This Post

RE: Nowhere near perfect but worth a watch.
Empire User Rating

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   ... Read More

skeletonjack About me
19:50, 11 October 2007 | Report This Post

Nowhere near perfect but worth a watch.
Empire User Rating

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.... ... Read More

VincentHanna About me
18:55, 08 October 2007 | Report This Post

Thats harsh Empire!
Empire User Rating

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. ... Read More

damn im good! About me
09:42, 05 October 2007 | Report This Post

RE: Hatchet
Empire User Rating

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... Read More

Kazuya About me
17:25, 03 October 2007 | Report This Post

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