Cinema review
Directed by Adam Green
Starring Joel Moore, Tamara Feldman, Deon Richmond, Mercedes McNab, Kane Hodder
Release date 5 October 2007

A boatload of sightseers are stalked by a mutated maniac in the swamps of Louisiana…

Gritty, 1970s-style exploitation horrors have been very much in vogue for the last few years, so it’s refreshing to come across a film that looks to the fun-filled gross-out titles of the 1980s for its inspiration. Hatchet is inspired by the endless parade of slasher movies that permeated that decade, and plays much of its stalk ‘n’ slashery for broad laughs without turning into a fully-fledged spoof.

There are plenty of campy cameos from the likes of A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Robert Englund and Candyman’s Tony Todd, while it’s Jason Vorhees himself, Kane Hodder, in the role of Victor Cowely, the axe-wielding deformed maniac.

Even Hatchet’s colourful special effects are something of a lo-fi throwback, courtesy of John Carl Buechler (the man behind the effects on such classic B-movies as Ghoulies and TerrorVision, as well as the director of Friday 13th Part VII). There’s lashings of gory arm lopping, foot spiking and head severing, but it’s all done in such a ludicrously over-the-top manner that you’re more likely to chuckle into your coke than chuck up your popcorn.

Hatchet benefits enormously from a cast with a high likeability factor. Joel Moore does a nice line in geeky heartbroken loser, Tamara Feldman is the appealing heroine of the piece (though she’s not above launching into the odd shriek), while Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Mercedes McNab displays great comic timing as a slow-witted wannabe movie star. Sure, they're all just caricatures, but they're played with just the right level of warmth and affection to have you rooting for them all the same – something that can make or break this kind of movie.

Director Adam Green, in his sophomore film after indie comedy Coffee and Donuts, does well to keep the fairly simple slasher plot interesting; even the fact that Victor Cowley is a howlingly unoriginal bogeyman is made up for by a surprisingly sympathetic flashback of what made this madman so mad in the first place.

Hatchet isn’t quite as funny as it needs to be, and the 'shock' ending is perhaps a little too inevitable. Other than that, though, it’s difficult to remember when the whole run/scream/die formula has last been this much fun. Let the 1980s horror revival begin! Matt McAllister

VERDICT: 7/10
Likeable horror throwback that should please fans of the genre.

Click here to read an interview with director Adam Green.