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Gothmogxx 28th March 2014 07:23 PM

The Hatchet franchise
 
Well to get it out of the way, I ****ing love all three of them. They all have their own strengths. Briefly summing them up...

Hatchet I was the funniest of the bunch and boasted likeable characters in the form of Joel David Moore and Deon Richmond. But the key strength that this film had was the gore. CGI? Get real! This is pure slasher horror at its best. Practical FX all the way! And it "feels" like its been taken out of time from the 80's. Basically that means its essentially plot-less and silly... But thats the charm of it. I love it. Victor Crowley is the bad ass slasher villain from modern times to equal Jason Voorhees.

Hatchet II is my personal favourite. I have lost count of how many times I have actually watched this. I've deliberately remembered the number for III (11), but if I had to estimate... At least 25. For the original I'd say just under 20. I am the Annie Wilkes fan of Hatchet haha! This one is not as funny but the story, darker tone, cast (Danielle Harris, Tom Holland, Tony Todd, R.A. Milhailof, John Carl Buechler, Kane Hodder, Parry Shenn, AJ Bowen, Ed Ackerman... Essentially loads who have appeared in so many horror movies) and kills are the main strengths here. Especially the kills... The final 20 minutes of Hatchet II are among the best moments in Slasher cinema ever! The double chainsaw kill, Tom Holland trying to save Danielle Harris from Tony Todd, Kane Hodder and R.A. Mihailof facing off, Kane ripping Tony out of his own skin after decapitating him in half... So epic!

Hatchet III I saw years later in 2013. I saw the first two at relatively the same time so the anticipation lasted for years and paid off. Its not as good as Hatchet II but its about on par with the original. Here we have more of an "Aliens" plot, with the authorities getting involved and obviously butchered. My favourite scene is where the SWAT team try to fight Crowley but fail, with Derek Mears getting his spine and skull ripped out. Hatchet II has the best kills, but displayed here are some great moments. The ending is flawless. I won't spoil it but it made me breathless and focused all the way. But I will mention Hatchet IV. Will it happen? Well this was Adam Greens (creator) personal story drawing to a close and he says another sequel is unlikely with his involvement. But he said you never know so I will live in hope...:nod:

Adam Green is a genius.

Enough with my thoughts though... What did you all think of this brilliant franchise?

Rik 28th March 2014 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gothmogxx (Post 398263)
Well to get it out of the way, I ****ing love all three of them.


Me too, all three are loads of fun, the inventive ways that people are bumped off get better with each film :nod:

zane 29th March 2014 01:50 PM

Thanks for your interesting comment on the Hatchet-Franchise, Gothmogxx.

I loved the first one – saw it last month after having it on my wishlist for years – and now I am eagerly awaiting Part II which I just ordered yeasterday for little money.

Confusing though that some people who loved part I didn't like part II that much.

Demdike@Cult Labs 29th March 2014 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zane (Post 398324)

Confusing though that some people who loved part I didn't like part II that much.

That would be me. :nod:

More isn't always better. Mainly i didn't care about the characters.

platostotal 29th March 2014 05:26 PM

Well, number 1 is so good that the sequels were always going to face an uphill battle... but they are pretty good, they could have used a bit more bats@%t humor like the first tho, you know it's a good un' when you when you start comparing it favorably with Friday,Halloween and Nightmare while you're actually watching it, along with the likes of Insidious and Sinister, horror seems to be rocking well into the 21st century... roll on number 4:woot:

Demoncrat 31st March 2014 05:12 PM

Rewatched the first one due to picking it up for a pittance, wasn't as much fun as I remembered. Poo. Tony Todd and 'is outrageous hac-cent etc.

Still loved the ending though.;)

zane 6th April 2014 08:06 AM

Now, finally got to watch Hatchet II. A few points...

- Why does it look cheaper than part 1. Isn't it supposed to be to other way around? While Part I looked like done for the cinema, Part 2 has a digital look that I don't like at all. Especially some scenes in the swamp look strange.
- the gore also doesn't look that good. What happened here? Even worst, pacing etc. isn't that good as well, which makes the effects scenes even look worse (of course, they are still 'okay').
- the storytelling feels off too.
- There are more shocks, but the lack of humor makes it much less entertaining. I have the feeling Greenes missinterpreted why the first one was so sucessful (I already noticed that listening to the audio commentary of Part 1 one, when he was like "Oh yeah, now we are gettin' serious" and I was like "Uh...no, I actually just laughed my ass off").
- It's nice to have such a quality cast, but the movie really doesn't make use of that either.
- Least but not last, it's also a lot less sexy than Part 1, which had Mercedes McNab in it. The sex scene between the couple in the swamps is just lame and could have been executed much better (we actually saw that better almost two decades ago in Jason goes to Hell).

While I watched the first one three times in a row, I'll probably watch the bonus material of Hatchet II but then it will go to the 'archives'. Still an okay movie, btw, but okay just isn't enough compared to the great movie that part 1 was.

applecore 6th April 2014 08:11 AM

I absolutely LOVE Hatchet. I've only seen 2 and 3 once each, so may need to revisit them in order to really decide my thoughts on them, but I do seem to remember not liking 2 very much at all.
That said, I remember thinking 3 was a blast and really enjoying it.

demonknight 7th April 2014 03:43 PM

Have not seen part 3 yet, I'm only familiar with parts 1&2. Love the first movie and not a huge fan of part 2, though both movies contain pretty decent gore sequences ;)

Gothmogxx 7th April 2014 05:37 PM

Word of advice: The UK edition is apparently a barebones release and it had no special features listed on the back when I saw it in HMV today so stick with the US unrated cut.


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