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Hatchet
R1 - America - Anchor Bay Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak/Shane Roberts (19th February 2008). |
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The Film
 While on a boat tour of the supposedly haunted spots in the Louisiana Bayou, a group of stereotypical horror movie characters (heart broken normal guy, wise ass black guy, bimbos/sluts, annoying old Christian couple, quiet troubled girl) become stranded and are hunted and killed by Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder), a local legend and unstoppable killing machine who has seemingly risen from the dead after having died years earlier following an unfortunate accident with, you guessed it's a hatchet! I hope that at least some of the quotes used on the DVD cover are meant with the same tongue-in-cheek humor that the film-makers aimed for in the movie, because with comments like "The next icon of horror" and "amongst the greatest slasher flicks of all time", they've just got to be joking. As well as being chosen to appear in at least 15 film festivals there's been an incredible amount of positive hype given to this movie, but after seeing it I can't see why. It seems that sometimes when there hasn't been anything to rave about for a while certain film magazines and internet sites go looking for something, anything, to crown the next big thing. This time "Hatchet" got the lucky role of the dice. While making his comedy/horror that parodies slasher films in general and the "Friday 13th" (1980-2001) series in particular, writer and director Adam Green has aimed for the tone and quality of Peter Jackson's "Braindead" AKA "Dead Alive" (1992) or Dan O'Bannon's "Return of the Living Dead" (1985). Unfortunately, apart from only a handful of good laughs and some great gore, he's ended up with something nearer to the Wayans Brothers "Scary Movie" (2000) and as everyone who's seen it knows, you don't want to be anywhere near "Scary Movie" if you can help it. He's obviously got a great love and extensive knowledge of the slasher genre but just nothing original to add to it. Its part of the joke that every single character, situation and twist is a total clich but it's been done too many times before to still be funny. The ˜in' joke references include the cast as well, with appearances by old school horror icons Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger), Tony Todd (Candyman) and Kane Hodder (Jason Voorhees), plus more recent stars Mercedes McNab ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997-2003)/"Angel" (1999-2004)), Joshua Leonard ("Blair Witch Project" (1999)) and Deon Richmond ("Scream 3" (2000)). Hodder gets two roles, firstly as Crowley's father in flashbacks and then as Crowley himself which means he's virtually playing Jason again for about the eighth time which is about as interesting as it sounds. Englund and Todd only show up for one scene, cameos, which is good because they're both terrible. Todd's scene is especially amateurish and seems more like an outtake or a rehearsal where they just didn't bother to do a better take. Not the worst of its kind but it's hardly worth your time. Just skip the comedy and watch the original "Halloween" (1978) again instead.
Video
Presented in a widescreen ratio of 1.78:1 this anamorphic transfer looks fairly good for a low budget feature, the image does have some soft spots and lacks in detail but the image is clean and colors are well represented including natural skin tones. Black levels are good but at times a bit noisy; shadow detail is also not as consistent as they could be in the darker night scenes. Day time scenes look sharp and hold up well though. There some grain but it's not distracting and there was no edge-enhancement which is good.
Audio
Two audio tracks are included in English Dolby Digital 5.1 and English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its 5.1 track. For a horror/slasher film the audio is primarily consisting of dialogue, screams and various gore-related sound effects and these are all handled well, the gore is especially delightful in its messiness and cringe factor as it shows off the track as a rather inventive audio mix. Music pumps through the speakers and makes itself known. It's not a track that will blow you away with its technical prowess but it does the job well. The disc does not include any optional subtitles.
Extras
Anchor Bay has released this film with an audio commentary, a documentary, four featurettes, a gag reel, the film's theatrical trailer and a collection of bonus trailers. Below is a closer look at these supplements. First up we've got a feature-length audio commentary with the film's writer/director Adam Green, cinematographer Will Barratt and actors Tamara Feldman, Joel David Moore and Deon Richmond. The track starts off with the director telling us that everything that could go wrong did go wrong during the film's production and that didn't stop there (the recording of this track was also hampered with problems), this in effect is the nature of making a low-budget film. The director and cinematographer talk about the filming locations, story elements and the cast including the cameos that appear in the film. Other topics of conversation include the shooting process and the various roadblocks they encountered making the film as well as tell a lot of funny stories and share experiences from the process. Part-way through the track the other participants (cast members) show up and add their two cents into the mix about the film, tell a few in-joke related stories among other things. Following that we have a rather in-depth documentary entitled "The Making of Hatchet" which runs for 39 minutes 16 seconds. Anchor Bay tends to provide a lot of great extras on their releases and this feature is no exception and is probably a lot more than what most would have produced for a low budget film release. The clip covers the entire process from the director's initial obsession with the horror genre, coming up with the story when he was eight years old and finally realizing the dream some 20 years later and getting a chance to make the film. We get a look inside the production process, spreading the hype and getting the internet fan sites behind the film and helping to get it financed and eventually made. We get a look at the casting, shooting of the film on location and the challenges they faced. Next up is "Meeting Victor Crowley" the first of four featurettes that runs for 9 minutes 24 seconds, in this clip we get a closer look at the character and how the filmmaker kept the scares and reactions from the cast genuine by not fully showing them the character until the last possible moment. The cast and crew share their thoughts on the process and how terrified they were of the final look of the character. "Guts and Gore" is the next featurette which runs for 10 minutes 58 seconds, this takes a look at all the practical special effects used on the film, this includes prosthetics, make-up effects and blood gags that were used in creating all the unique kills for the film. Also takes a look at some of the props including the gas-powered belt sander. Also featured is "Anatomy of a Kill" another featurette which runs for 6 minutes 21 seconds, this feature takes a look at a key scene in the film where Crowley rips off the lower portion of a person's face and goes through the process of setting up the scene and shooting it all in-camera without the use of CGI effects. The final featurette is entitled "A Twisted Tale" and runs for 8 minutes 32 seconds and chronicles the relationship the director has with Twister Sister front man Dee Snider. The disc also includes a gag reel which runs for 3 minutes 43 seconds, the usual stuff is found here including line flubs, missed cues and the director cracking up in laughter behind the scenes. The film's original theatrical trailer is next and runs for 1 minute 49 seconds. Rounding out the extras are a collection of bonus trailers for: - "Spiral" which runs for 2 minutes 7 seconds. - "Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon" which runs for 2 minutes 20 seconds. - "Karas: The Revelation" which runs for 1 minute 30 seconds. - "Anchor Bay" spot which runs for 1 minute 41 seconds.
Packaging
This disc is packaged in an amaray case housed in a cardboard slip-cover.
Overall
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