Ashbudash360 There really haven't been any decent slasher movies in the last decade until now. So many people complain that this is a "typical slasher movie" when it really isn't. Slasher movies are all the same in the sense that the bad guy brutally kills his victims with a weapon, but it's the plot and storyline that makes them unique. As a person who loves horror movies and lives in Louisiana, I'd say to watch this movie. Too many horror movies are about ghosts and supernatural possessions, but this goes back to the roots of the classic slasher films and horror movies. Seriously, watch this movie.

Mightygill Slashers took the world of horror movies by storm in the 1980's. At some points there were new ones coming out on a weekly basis, but by the end of the decade the sub-genre had died off almost entirely and was barely heard from for much of the next decade. In 2006 director Adam Green wanted to bring back the feeling those movies gave fans with his slasher Hatchet.With cameos and parts going to Tony "Candyman" Todd, Kane "Jason" Hodder, and Robert "Freddy" Englund, heavy use of practical effects over computer effects and a villain who looked like an 80's type of killer, Hatchet seemed posed to take a spot alongside the best in the sub-genre. This movie tells the story of a group of people who go on a swamp tour that winds up ending badly. They end up in Victor Crowley's territory and he starts murdering them one by one, just like the classics.Despite all this and being promoted as "old school American horror" Hatchet fails miserably at reaching it's goals and although there are far worse horror films out there there are very few that are as disappointing as this one. The problem is that many elements that made the classic slashers great are absent: there's no atmosphere, tension, creepiness, scariness or memorable soundtrack. Basically what we have is a gore-comedy, it's got the practical effects and villain of an 80's slasher but nothing else. If it resembles anything from the 80's it's more like the slashers near the end of the decade that threw away the horror elements for comedy and over the top characters.And while the comedy works well sometimes, more often than not it doesn't. Instead of making a horror movie with humour dispersed throughout they basically wrapped kills around a comedy. What we're left with are far too many moments where the movie comes to a complete stop just to try and make the audience laugh. This works fine when it's funny but really hurts the film when it's not. Some of the characters, especially the two dumb women, are really annoying unless you love blonde joke type of humour. If you like nudity there are several shots of their breasts but everybody else may find themselves skipping ahead to where something else more interesting happens.The special effects themselves are decent. Their goal was to avoid using CGI and in that regard the film is admirable and mostly succeeds. The practical effects are generally well done although some scenes such as the blood splashing on the trees are a bit overdone, and not really in a good way. Also, the bodies seem to come apart really easily, but it is a slasher film so realism certainly isn't expected. The kills themselves are quite well done, especially the double kill early on, and are quite bloody and gory.Unfortunately Hatchet also has arguably one of the worst endings of any slasher. It doesn't really end, it just cuts off in the middle of the scene where Hatchet II is supposed to pick right up from. Sequel or not it is an absolutely terrible way to end the film.Availability: Hatchet is available on both DVD and Blu-ray as a stand alone R-rated version or unrated director's cut or as a "Slasher 4 pack" with No One Lives, A Horrible Way to Die and The Alphabet Killer. All contain a good amount of bonus features such as a commentary, making of, gag reel, trailer and more.Despite failing to deliver on the "old school American horror" that was promised, Hatchet is still a fairly enjoyable slasher film worth checking out for slasher film fans. Just don't expect it to be as good as the classics, or even quite reach the levels of later films like Scream either.

GL84 Taking a riverboat trip into the Louisiana swamps, a group of tourists and their ride find a local legend about a psychotic serial killer living in the swamps true and must find a way of surviving his blood- soaked rampage.On the whole this was an absolutely fun, fantastic slasher. One of the best parts to this one is that glorious throwback feeling to the slashers and of the past, and nearly every aspect of this is found throughout here. Starting with the back-story here, this is a classic sense of unwarranted trauma and abuse which is a classic example of a supposed slasher back-story that carries this one along. More to the point, the film's love of old-school special effects means that everything here is done with prosthetic make-up and not through CGI, which is a real blast here giving the actions a much more impressive feel to these scenes. That also brings up the film's other great elements in a series of spectacularly brutal and graphic kills here that make for a really exciting time watching the carnage on display here as it rips people to pieces, hacks off limbs and really just displays no outward rationale for keeping people in one piece. That these come from a fine assortment of action-packed stalking scenes is quite nice here and really gets this going nicely, as it starts with the early backs troy scenes and then carries on through the staking scenes of the group after being stranded in the swamp where the first attack on the couple gets this one going nicely. There's other big scenes here with the attack on the tour-guide and the eventual escape, as well as the big battle in the tool-shed and the cemetery chase which all make for great action-packed scenes that include the great gore and suspense throughout. That suspense, coming not only from the stories and tall- tales while also showcasing the absolutely creepy swamps and shack locations here which really help move this along as well as the unrelenting gore make this so good. About the only flaw here is the longer amount of time this takes to get to the swamp with the rather lame celebrations and tour-boat trip that takes forever to move along. Otherwise, this one was simply a blast.Rated R: Extreme Graphic Violence, Full Nudity, Graphic Language and drug use.

vengeance20 Nowadays it's kind of rare when you get a straight forward bloody slasher film, such as the Evil Dead remake! Which was ace!The film is basically about a group 20 somethings, who go on a swamp lake tour, run by a wannabe con artist or such, & find themselves stranded in the swamp forest with a deformed vicious killer by the name of Victor Crowley is lurking within the swamp! When he was younger, he got picked on by kids & teens! One night, some trick or treaters start a fire by the door to try & get Victor out the cabin. Unfortunately when his father tries to save him, accidentally whacks a hatchet in his face killing him instantly when he was up against the cabin door! Since then he's been killing anyone venturing in the swamp!The kills in the film were quite good! Bloody & vicious just the way it should be done! Not to mention, very unique in how the kills were executed! 1 out of 5 of the rarest things in bloody slashers today or horrors in general!The characters were also good! Noticed quite a few familiar faces in the Horror World! Tony Todd, from the Final Destination Franchise & Robert Englund from the A Nightmare On Elm Films! Along with other characters I recognise from Horrors films I've seen over the years!The story-line was good! Straight-forward, but not so bad! Wasn't so keen on the ending mind you! Couldn't help but think it was going to be one of those female soul surviver crap! Dose my head in, but I wasn't sure about the ending, it was kind ruined in a way! But it wasn't half as bad as other crappy ass endings to films!The killer himself was well done! Tall, built & very deadly! Overall this film was quite good! Had a slight feeling it would be good!9/10