HATCHET: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION (2007-2017)
5-Disc Limited Edition Steelbook
Synopsis: The first official release from Dark Sky Selects is finally here. Adam Green's iconic Hatchet films are available for the first time together in one package: ADAM GREEN PRESENTS HATCHET: The Complete Collection. This Steelbook collection includes the uncensored versions of Hatchet, Hatchet 2, Hatchet 3 and Victor Crowley. The set also includes a 5th bonus disc featuring brand new bonus material.
Unleashed at a time when the fun of 80s slashers had all but disappeared from the cinematic landscape, Hatchet
Unleashed at a time when the fun of 80s slashers had all but disappeared from the cinematic landscape, Hatchet
ushered in a new era of terror with its unapologetic brutality and introduction of Victor Crowley, the modern bogeyman, who ruthlessly hunts those who dare tread into his swamp. With each installment, the stakes escalate, delivering bigger, bloodier scares and a relentless barrage of inventive kills. So gather all your pieces, because it’s time to return to his swamp and learn once and for all that some legends truly never die.
HATCHET (2007)
Label: Anchor Bay Films
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 83 Minutes 59 Seconds
Audio: Elisha True HD 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Adam Green
Cast: Joel David Moore, Tamara Feldman, Deon Richmond, Richard Riehle, Mercedes McNab, Parry Shen, Tony Todd, Kane Hodder, Robert Englund
I remember the ad campaign leading up to the release of Adam Green's Hatchet (2007), promising a return to "Old School American Horror", it was a pretty effective sales pitch. WHat we got was a slasher tale in the mold of Friday the 13th, about an almost mythical killer named Victor Crowley, a deformed, overall-wearing swamp-dweller who was accidentally killed by his father during a tragic prank gone wrong, and who is said to haunt the hollows of Honey Island Swamp in New Orleans. Entering the swamp in this first film is a group of tourist visiting New orleans during Mardi Gras who are suckered into a half-assed swamp tour by voodoo con-man Rev. Zombie (Tony Todd, Candyman), They are taken out into the swamp by half-assed tour guide name Shawn (Parry Shen, Hatchet II) who promptly manages to sink the boat after hitting a rock, forcing the tourists to disembark onto Honey Island, an alligator infested mosquito hole that is also the home of Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder, Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings).
This first film is my favorite in the series, which is not so much "old school American horror" as it is a ultra-gory, splatstick horror-comedy. Among the cast we have Joel Moore (Spiral), Richard Riehle (Office Space), Patrika Darbo (The 'Burbs), plus a fun opening scene with a cameo from Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street) as swamp-rat Sampson, and special effect legend John Carl Buechler (Mausoleum) as an old, crusty, harbinger of doom.
The flick is chock full of tasty old school practical effects gore from Buechler that certainly satisfied my craving for the red stuff, with creative well-staged kills, we get hatchet carnage, belt-sander and shovel gore, decapitations, de-limbings and a bunch more. The comedy in this initial film is also the best in the series, owing a lot of it's effectiveness to the terrific cast, plus we get plenty of topless women thanks to a subplot involving a sleazy Girls Gone Wild-esque producer (Joel Murray) and his two "models" Misty (Tamara Feldman, TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Jenna (Joleigh Fioreavanti). We also get a mysterious character named Marybeth (Tamara Feldman, Gossip Girl) who joins the tour for reasons that relate to the opening scene with Englund.
When this came out I was quite enamored with it, I didn't think it lived-up to its own hype at the time, but as a gory and somewhat corny slash, especially in comparison to the sequels. Gore comes by way of disemboweling, limb hacking, poor Richard Riehle getting brutally torn apart, with his characters wife also getting quite a show-stopping moment of gore as the overall-wearing swamp-killer pulls her head apart with his bare hands, it's probably my favorite kill. There's also get someone's lower-jaw belt sand-off and a solid decapitation by shovel in the mouth.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director/Co-Producer Adam Green and Actor Kane Hodder
- Audio Commentary With Writer/Director Adam Green, this time accompanied by Cinematographer/Co-Producer Will Barratt and Actors Tamara Feldman, Joel David Moore, and Deon Richmond
- The Making of 'Hatchet' (39:18)
- Meeting Victor Crowley (9:24)
- A Twisted Tale (8:32)
- Guts & Gore (10:58)
- Anatomy of a Kill (6:21)
- Gag Reel (3:43)
- Theatrical Trailer (1:48)
HATCHET II (2010)
Label: Dark Sky Films
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 85 Minutes 22 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, PCM 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1).
Director: Adam Green
Cast: Danielle Harris, Tony Todd, Kane Hodder, Tom Holland, A.J. Bowen
We return to the bloody bayou in Hatchet II which picks up mere seconds after the events of Hatchet, we find MaryBeth, who this time around is portrayed by scream queen Danielle Harris (Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers), barely escaping the clutches of deformed swamp-killer Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood). She is assisted by grizzled local fisherman Jack Cracker (Carl Buechler), the harbinger of doom from the last flick, who takes her back to his swamp-shack. Once there he realizes who her father is and unceremoniously forces her at gunpoint to leave. Not willing to explain himself he tells her to speak with Reverend Zombie (Tony Todd, Night of the Living Dead '90), who plays a much larger part in this film than the last, and it's better for it. Cracker fears that his involvement with her might bring the wrath of Crowley ...and he's not wrong about that. Not minutes after she leaves Cracker is strangled and decapitated by his own bloody intestines, as his corpse spews blood against the wall opening credits roll to the industrial-metal sound of the Ministry tune "Just One Fix", it a terrific opener
Marybeth makes her way back to Reverend Zombie's voodoo shop and the Rev lays a slightly altered Victor Crowley origin story on us that implicates her family in the death of Crowley all those years ago. It's an interesting spin on the story and it's told in a flashback featuring Kane Hodder once again as Thomas Crowley. Hodder is called upon to act much more dramatically that I'd seen previously, and he pulls it off relatively well. Reverend Zombie reluctantly agrees to return to the cursed swamp to recover the bodies of MaryBeth's father and brother, as well as his lost tour boat. A hunting party of mercenary gator hunters is amassed and the motley crew head back into the swamp, however, Reverend Zombie has ulterior motives for helping MaryBeth which play out as the band of armed men enter Honey Island Swamp. We also get Parry Shen returning as Justin, the twin brother of the boat captain from the last film.
Short story shorter, this film is pretty dang good, a satisfying, self-indulgent, splatter-romp that pulls no punches. The kills are bloodier, the laughs are louder, the screams are longer and the cliches are full-on and fun. You get power sanders to the skull, the aforementioned strangling with intestines, a chainsaws to the balls, a skull split open, a lower jaw ripped off, a face destroyed by boat prop, and one of the funniest decapitation-during-sex scenes you'll likely ever see. Green is having a blast and just rips into it giving tribute to the slasher films of the 80's with the glee and abandon of a horror-geek on steroids. This sequel in my mind is almost as good as the first depending on which day you ask me, it migh teven be my favorite.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Actor/Director" commentary, with Adam Green and horror icons Tony Todd and Kane Hodder
- Audio Commentary with Actor/Director Adam Green, cinematographer Will Barrett, and special FX supervisor Robert Pendergraft
- Hatchet II: Behind the Screams (33:39)
- Hatchet II: First Look (8:15)
- Meet the FX Team (6:14)
- Trailer (1:56)
- Teaser Trailer (1:11)
- TV Spot (0:33)
- Radio Spot (0:32)
HATCHET III (2013)
Label: Dark Sky Films
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 81 Minutes 23 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.40:1)
Director: BJ McDonnell
Cast: Danielle Harris, Kane Hodder, Zach Galligan, Caroline Williams, Derek Mears
The third film is directed by BJ McDonnell, with Adam Green producing and writing the script, we have it picking up right where the first sequel ended, the vengeful Marybeth (Danielle Harris, The Black Waters of Echo's Pond) seemingly destroying Victor Crowley, then making her way back to town, carrying his scalp, reporting to Sheriff Fowler (Zach Galligan, Gremlins) about the horrific events in Honey Island Swamp. He sends a team of deputies and paramedics to the swamp to check out her story, and of course Crowley ain't dead, and more swamp-slasher carnage ensues.
This time around we get Caroline Williams (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2) as the sheriff's ex Amanda, stealing the show, who is obsessed with the story of Crowley. While the Sheriff is unable to be reached Deputy Winslow (Robert Diago DoQui) is left in charge, and Amanda convinces him to spring Marybeth and take her to the island. Why would he do this? Well, let me tell you, because Amanda adds a new wrinkle to the Crowley mythology, one that involves the ashes of Thomas Crowley and Crowley's only living relative Abbott McMullen, played by Sid Haig (The Devil's Rejects) in a brief but intensely memorable role, and Parry Shen again returns, this time as a first-responder named Andrew who is not related to the twins he played in the first and second film, and who figures heavily into the fourth film.
Again, we get some glorious over-the-top splatstick gore, the humor is ramped up (though not necessarily for the better in my opinion), but the gore is delivered fully with more testicle carnage, disembowelments, multiple delimbings, decapitations, a defibrillator to the head, and of course several sweet hatchet kills including one that splits open a skull with the brain dropping out, a face smashed against a tree, and a pretty gruesome scene of Crowley ripping the spine and skull straight out of the body of a SWAT team captain played by Derek Mears (Friday the 13th remake), and geyser upon geyser of arterial blood spray.
Sure, the story by this point in the franchise doesn't offer a whole lot of new meat to chew on, but it delivers on the gory slashery goodness, I would have preferred if it was slightly less campy what with the humor, but I have to say I enjoyed this on re-watch a bunch more than I remember the first go round, it's just good gory fun, and like all the films in the franchise it comes in under 90-minutes, which in my opinion is the way to go with a slasher, anything over 90 is too long, and the closer you get to 80 is even better!
Special Features:
- Crew Audio Commentary with writer/producer Adam Green, director BJ McDonnell, cinematographer Will Barratt, and make-up effects artist Robert Pendergraft.
- Cast Audio Commentary with writer/director Adam Green, BJ McDonnell, and actor Kane Hodder.
- Hatchet III: Behind the Scenes (9:06)
- Raising Kane (4:57)
- Swamp Fun (8:53)
- Trailer (1:56)
- Teaser (0:51)
VICTOR CROWLEY (2017)
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 82 Minutes 42 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: Adam Green
Cast: Kane Hodder, Parry Shen, Laura Ortiz, Dave Sheridan, Brian Quinn
In the fourth, and so far final, Hatchet sequel, we once again return to Louisiana’s Honey Island Swamp, this is the first sequel not to take place immediately pickup up after the end of the previous film, picking up a decade after the events of Hatchet III. The lone survivor Andrew Yong (Parry Shen), the paramedic from the third film, has written a book about the horrific massacre and is on a press tour promoting his controversial mew book. His press agent Kathleen (Felissa Rose, Sleepaway Camp) convinces him to return to Honey Island Swamp to be interviewed by for true crime TV series, though is unaware that his acrimonious ex-wife Sabrina (Krystal Joy Brown, TV's The Equalizer).
Meanwhile indie filmmaker Chloe (Katie Booth), her boyfriend Alex (Chase Williamson, Beyond the Gates), and her best friend Rose (Laura Ortiz, The Hills Have Eyes remake) are headed to Honey Island Swamp to make a trailer for a movie about the Victor Crowley and swamp massacres that happened there, with the help of a wanna-be actor/swamp tour guide Dillon (Dave Sheridan, Ghost World).
Enroute to Louisiana via private jet the plane experiences catastrophic engine failure and wouldn't you know it, it lands right smack dab in Honey Island Swamp, now Andrew, Kathleen, his ex-wife Sabrina and her surviving crew consisting of Austin (Brian Quinn, TV's Impractical Jokers) and videographer girlfriend Casey (Tiffany Shepis, Abominable) find themselves trapped in the fuselage, with Dillon coming to try to rescue them, while a video of Reverend Zombie reciting the voodoo curse played on Rose's phone actually resurrects the deformed swamp-slasher Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder, Alligator II: The Mutation), after all Hell breaks loose in the swamp, again.
This is my least favorite of the franchise, but like the third film it's grown on me with each additional watch. Adam Green made cameos in the previous film as a recurring drunk Mardi Gras reveler, here he and his cohort Joe Lynch (Knights of Badassdom) appear as doomed pilots. The slowest parts for me are the start-up and the plane crash, the scenes post-crash are largely confined to the inside or just outside of the plane, and we never do get deep into the swamp proper, the single-setting of it all got a bit stale.
That said, this one is stacked with fun gore for the lovers of grue, we get plenty of arterial spray as victims are de-limbed and de-digited, decapped, claw-hammered, scalped, de-brained, hatcheted, and torn asunder. There's also some fun eye-trauma, and a bizarre moment of self-sacrifice involving a jet-engine. Tons of bloodshed, gory kills, but the reliance on winky humor detracts from the atmosphere and terror, not enough to absolutely ruin it by any means, but enough that this is easily my least favorite of the Hatchet flicks.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Adam Green and actors Parry Shen, Laura Ortiz, and Dave Sheridan
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Adam Green, Cinematography Jan-Michael Losada, Editor Matt Latham, and Make-Up FX Artist Robert Pendergraft
- Fly On The Set” (60:08)
- Raising the Dead...Again (26:41)
- Trailer (2:07)
- Teaser (0:44)
Exclusive Bonus Disc:
- NEW! Hatchet: Swamp Tales (53:05)
- NEW! Production Journals (59:17)
The only new extras on this 5-disc set are found on the exclusive bonus disc, we get the 53-min Hatchet: Swamp Tales; and 59-min Production Journals. Hatchet: Swamp Tales features a roundtable discussion between Adam Green, DP Will Barratt and producer Sarah Elbert with some fun anecdotes about the struggles of making low-budget horror with tales about time crunches, production woes, how the films were received and much more. If you're a fan of the series there's a lot to love about this candid conversation. The second extra is the nearly hour-long Production Journals, which offers the cast and crew reading production journals that they posted online while filming the first Hatchet films. An interesting curio for sure that also features a slideshow of images from the production.
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Adam Green, Cinematography Jan-Michael Losada, Editor Matt Latham, and Make-Up FX Artist Robert Pendergraft
- Fly On The Set” (60:08)
- Raising the Dead...Again (26:41)
- Trailer (2:07)
- Teaser (0:44)
Exclusive Bonus Disc:
- NEW! Hatchet: Swamp Tales (53:05)
- NEW! Production Journals (59:17)
The only new extras on this 5-disc set are found on the exclusive bonus disc, we get the 53-min Hatchet: Swamp Tales; and 59-min Production Journals. Hatchet: Swamp Tales features a roundtable discussion between Adam Green, DP Will Barratt and producer Sarah Elbert with some fun anecdotes about the struggles of making low-budget horror with tales about time crunches, production woes, how the films were received and much more. If you're a fan of the series there's a lot to love about this candid conversation. The second extra is the nearly hour-long Production Journals, which offers the cast and crew reading production journals that they posted online while filming the first Hatchet films. An interesting curio for sure that also features a slideshow of images from the production.
Audio/Video: All four films in the series featured on this set have previously been issued by Anchor Bay (the first film) and Dark SKy Films (for the sequels) previously, and the disc found here are recycles of those previous releases, these are not new transfers, they are the exact same discs that were previously available, but bundles together for the first time in one collection. That said, audio and video holds up pretty well here, not as well with bold colors and pleasing black levels, decent depth and clarity as well. The uncompressed audio likewise sounds excellent, the screams, sounds of carnage and soundtracks all fare well, with optional English subtitles.
The 5-disc Limited Edition SteelBook set arrives in a very cool looking, glossy-finish SteelBook release featuring the overall-wearing deformed swamp killer Victor Crowley holding his signature hatchet in one hand and a severed arm in the other, standing knee-deep in swamp water - it certainly does capture the vibe of the franchise quite nicely.
As a franchise I think this is a hella-fun slasher series, the gore is outstanding, the atmosphere and setting of the first few flicks is outstanding, and the jokes, while they get a bit cornier as the series went on, is still plenty entertaining. Sure, I wish we would have received new scans or 4K Ultra HD releases for the movies but these scans still hold up and they sound great, we get all the previous extras, plus a bonus disc of new extras - plus this is the first time we've had a proper collection for the franchise, and the new packaging looks terrific. A solid first entry from Dark SKy Selects that should make fans of the Hatchet franchise quite happy. I am very curious to see what comes next from Dark SKy Sheets and what they choose to curate from the catalog, but I am hoping that we see some 4K UHD upgrades going forward.
Buy it direct from Dark Sky Films:
https://selects.darkskyfilms.com/
Buy it direct from Dark Sky Films:
https://selects.darkskyfilms.com/
