Victor Crowley returns to avenge his untimely demise! Starting directly from the last frame of the first movie, but with a new lead actress Danielle Harris (Halloween 4 & 5), Hatchet II ratchets up the gore and kill counts, but does the story get any better? Read on to find out…
Short nitty-gritty plot description from IMDb is as follows: Marybeth escapes the clutches of the bayou-butcher Victor Crowley and
returns to the swamp with an army of hunters and gunmen, determined to
end Crowley’s reign of horror once and for all.
If for some strange reason you thought the first Hatchet wasn’t gory enough and didn’t have enough horror icons in it, you’ll be pleased to know Hatchet II is exactly what you’re looking for. I’m a fan of the first movie (which reminds me that I need to throw up a review) and really thought Kane Hodder’s Victor Crowley, was a monstrous beast, with some fantastic methods of violence and mayhem. The tradition continues in Hatchet II, but unfortunately the story isn’t quite as good.
I love movies that pick up directly from the first one, but with the recast in lead actress, it felt different. Add on the fact that Danielle Harris’ performance wasn’t the best for the first half of the movie, with her stiff line delivery, my overall enjoyment with Hatchet II was diminished. At first I liked where they were going with the story, having a group of armed hunters, consisting of horror director Tom Holland (Fright Night), R.A. Mihailoff (Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III) and Tony Todd (Candyman), but felt that they sped through most of the kills and didn’t really expand too much on the settings and story. We are provided some back story on the Crowley family, although I felt it a little cheesy.
Hatchet II does however provide some brilliant nods to several other horror films. On one of the TV’s, we get a quick little news report on the situations that occurred in the movie Frozen, another movie directed by Hatchet director Adam Green. We also find out that Victor Crowley exists in the same universe as Jason Voorhees and Leslie Vernon. How cool is that!
If you’ve seen the first movie, I think you’ll like this one as well. I know I did, it’s just I didn’t like it as much as Hatchet. I would’ve preferred some expanded set pieces beyond just the swampy jungle that we see and the acting from the lead star was a little shaky at first. Still, it’s a gory horror film and Victor Crowley kicks some serious ass!
Rating:
