When a horror franchise takes a turn for the worst, it scarcely ever catches itself and rebounds back to quality entertainment for its sequels. This reason is precisely why I'm so stunned that I'm awarding Hatchet III three stars. I'm reminded of its predecessor, a dull and gory affair that emphasized on the monotony of the horror genre, and showed that even if you bill yourself as a favorable homage to the films of the eighties that you'll need to work on not having familiarity breed contempt.
Hatchet III, however, is simply fun as we revisit (and hopefully for the final time) the swamps of New Orleans where Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder) lives. Crowley is a deformed killer who exists to haunt the swamps in search of his father's remains. We begin immediately where Hatchet II left off (just like with that film, respectively), where Marybeth (Marybeth Dunston) escapes the swamplands only to be arrested at the police station for coming in bloodied and with a weapon after fighting off Crowley. However, Crowley is still alive in the woods, and accompanied by an investigative journalist who is blacklisted for believing in the man and a police officer, Marybeth and the rest of the police force venture out to the swamps to take out Crowley once and for all.
Hatchet II was a little redundant and smothering with its endless obsession with gore and violence, and its dizzying plot developments that lacked pacing and suspense. Hatchet III is the closest thing to slowburn horror in the slasher genre I've seen recently, giving the film enough time to build up adequate suspense before the arrival of the long-awaited madman. It's fair to say the "catch the killer" plot with an abundance of police officers and methods of blunt force is overdone and repetitive, but I find this to be is more competent approach to a sequel rather than an approach that truly does bring a hatchet-job to a solid idea.
The film was directed by BJ McDonnell and was penned and financed by the franchise's creator, Adam Green, whose film Frozen I named one of the best horror films of the year in 2010. Green, whatever way you want to slice it (pun intended), he has an incorruptible love for the genre and he's showing it in a way that isn't disrespectful or quietly smarmy. He's making rawer, gorier horror films, that kindly drift away from the overcompensating and redundant confines of the paranormal and exorcism plots that plague theaters every year. Whether or not people get his work, as well, doesn't seem to faze him either. He's just seems to be happy his work is getting around and his love for the horror genre is being expressed accordingly.
The Hatchet franchise has been something of a roller-coaster, but never a burden. All the films run at a concise eighty minutes, give or take, and they all feature enough gore and inanity to satisfy on some level.With the third installment, Green has reconnected with his footing, which is a great mix of gratuitous gore and stable plotting; and, not to mention, terrific performances by the likes of Derek Mears and Sid Haig (who gives probably the best performance since Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects).
Starring: Danielle Harris, Kane Hodder, Zach Galligan, Caroline Williams, Derek Mears, and Sid Haig. Directed by: BJ McDonnell.
