Fantastic Film Festival Movie Review

Hatchet

This movie was a blast. Its good ol fashioned 80's style slasher fun. Dont get me wrong its not a masterpiece by any means but everyone looked like they had a great time. Im sure it could spawn a great franchise but i wouldnt put it up there with Halloween, Friday the 13th or A Nightmare on Elm Street just yet. The director Adam Green introduced the movie and he came across as a genuine nice guy. He basically said he was lucky enough to get the chance the fulfill one of his dreams of making the movie that he would want to see. He acknowledged he was a 80's slasher fan and want to invoke that type of feel. I didnt have a chance to stay after the movie but he was there available for anyone to talk to.
The movie is basically about some people that are on a tour boat in the swamps of Louisiana and they get stuck on a rock. They are forced to go ashore which happens to be right in front of the house of Victor Crowley. Victor was a deformed kid who lived alone with his dad and all the local kids teased him. One day some kids go to his house and throw firecrackers at his house which accidentally catches it on fire. The Dad comes home and chops down the door trying to get Victor. Victor has his head agains the door and gets accidentally chopped in the head and dies. The dad eventually dies and now Victor is back after all these years? Its not really explained if hes a ghost or didnt actually die or what exactly happened. Maybe more will be explained during the sequel which im sure is to come. Anyway Victor is back and just goes buck wild ripping, tearing and cutting them to pieces. So basically its a stalk in the woods, figure out how to stop him type of tale. It has some fantastic death scenes with full bloody gore at its maximum. Im huge into jump scares and it had plenty of them.
The movie had great cameos by Robert Englund and Tony Todd. But Kane Hodder as Victor Crowley was the real star of the show. Victor looks basically like a hillbilly love child between Jason Voorhees and the Toxic Avenger. The other actors were pretty generic with the exception of the lead chick whom was pretty good. The only other cons that hold it back for me from being a masterpiece are a few minor things. First the budget looked pretty miniscule. He did a great job with what he had but there were too many repeat set visits and some of the lighting was questionable. In some parts it was too dark and a few scenes it was too bright and you could tell it was lighting from lamps and not the moonlight. I couldnt even imagined what he could have done with a budget on par with something like the crappy Venom movie. Also some of the characters were too generic and cliched. The funny black guy and the super dumb blonde come to mind. I think he was going for a campy feel but sometimes it was a little cheesy. Most of the dialogue was solid though and had some legitmately funny lines.
All in all it was a great horror debut and i had rollicking fun time. I wish the director the best and hopes he keeps it real with any other projects he does. Im looking forward to seeing more from Hodder and Victor. Definitely recommend it to any fans of slasher movies or any action type of horror like Evil Dead or Dusk till Dawn.
Heres the teaser