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Marybeth escapes the clutches of the deformed, swamp-dwelling iconic killer Victor Crowley. After learning the truth about her family's connection to the hatchet-wielding madman, Marybeth returns to the Louisiana swamps along with an army of hunters to recover the bodies of her family and exact the bloodiest revenge against the bayou butcher.
--IMDb
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It takes a set of brass balls to put your name before the title of a film. Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese don't even do that. Evidently, with only three films under his belt, Adam Green has reached that stature as a writer and director that he can put his name before the title of a film. And what's with all this shit in the advertising about this being the greatest thing to happen to horror since sliced bread? Very few people saw the first "Hatchet" and I was one of the people who thought it was kind of a letdown. Sure, it wasn't awful but it didn't do anything to re-ignite the horror genre, despite what the new ad campaign would have you believe. "Hatchet II" is as good as the first film but no better. It definitely shows Adam Green stills has some things to learn as a director.
This sequel picks off right where the last picture left off. Marybeth (Danielle Harris) wants to get revenge on Victor Crawley (Kane Hodder) for murdering her family so she seeks the assistance of Reverend Zombie (Tony Todd) who happens to know a little of the VIctor Crawley backstory. So Zombie recruits a group of hunters and killers to follow him into the swamp -- with Marybeth and her uncle -- and hunt down Victor Crawley. Zombie thinks he knows how to kill the monster once and for all. What results is a bloodbath of unspeakable proportions as just about every single thing in the film is stabbed, shot, chopped in half or decapitated. The film is unrated and you can see why. Adam Green pulls zero punches and goes for the throat -- literally.
I will give Green credit for one thing -- he likes to write. He likes giving his characters lots and lots of dialog, no matter how juvenile and pointless some of it is. What he lacks is the ability to recognize which dialog needs to go or be trimmed. The scene between Marybeth and Reverend Zombie felt like it went on forever and a day. The kills here, however, almost make up for any shortcomings. There are some truly creative and devious kills here, as when A.J. Bowen's character is giving it to a girl from behind only to have his head chopped off before he finishes. And then she has trouble detaching from him. It's hysterical and disturbing. But there are several other kills here that rival that one. Tony Todd's death scenes was more than enjoyable also.
One thing that would help Green is casting stronger actors in some of these roles. As much as I love Tom Holland as a character actor, he is just terrible here. Danielle Harris is more annoying than she has ever been before and Kane Hodder need not speak words in a film. Tony Todd is having the most fun here and this is definitely the largest role I have seen him have since the "Candyman" films. It was nice to see him not be relegated to crappy cameos and appearances. Better actors will always give you a stronger product.
So I don't know what to say about this -- it was entertaining and the kills were worth it by themselves. But "Hatchet II" is far from the 'return of horror' or anything of the sort. It's just another blood-soaked slasher film. But I will say that the "Frozen" references were humorous and that the Leslie Vernon mention was nice too -- now THAT was a terrific horror film. "Hatchet II" is just all right. 7/10.
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#1:
benloveshorror
- added February 8, 2011 at 10:32pm
Best slasher movie since the first Hatchet! 10/10
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#2:
Ginose
- added February 8, 2011 at 11:54pm
Well, I dunno about all THAT Ben, but a damned
good sequel no doubt. I felt the budget might have
had a bit of a stifle, and the gore department
wasn't quite up to par with the last one, but
this shit was fun on a bun, all the same. 7.9/10
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#3:
Crispy
- added July 25, 2011 at 4:35pm
Not nearly as good as the last one, but it served
its purpose decently enough. 8/10
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