The epic conclusion
Hatchet III
PLOT
- A search and recovery team heads into the haunted swamp
to pick up the pieces and Marybeth learns the secret to ending the
voodoo curse that has left Victor Crowley haunting and terrorizing
Honey Island Swamp for decades.
LOWDOWN
– Back
in 2007, the film Hatchet
had been released to a limited number of theaters, in which a friend
and myself tried in vain to go see. I remember clearly that my friend
told me about this new gory slasher film that had been released and
featured a bunch of famous horror icons. In fact, if I remember
clearly, she told me it had Freddy, Jason, and even Candyman. That
the deaths were all practical, and amazing. Of course my interest was
caught, and the two of us tried to go see it. Sadly as a big epic
fail, the movie was pulled from most theaters and we had to wait to
buy it on DVD. Funny enough, a few months later we went to Newbury
Comics to buy Hatchet
and
my friend was able to get a pretty cool Newbury drinking glass since
she had bought this movie. Well that afternoon, she watched the first
movie at her house and I remember how much fun it had been. This was
legit a movie that reminded me of the good old days. A great creepy
setting, a ghost story background, a likeable cast, funny one liners,
great cameos, and of course an amazing villain and some of the
greatest deaths I had seen on screen in years.
Well
sadly my friendship to this girl didn't last, but my love for Hatchet
did. It wasn't until 2010 when I was away at school when another
friend of mine said she had rented Hatchet
II
on Netflix. The two of us sat down together sculpting in my apartment
and watched it, cheering, and yet again loving the same fun as the
first which seemed to be pumped up another notch. Of course the two
of us were left completely breathless at the epic AMAZING final death
that made us cheer and have to rewind and watch it a few more times.
My
love for director Adam Green found a much higher level of respect
when the following year my father and caught Frozen on TV. I
seriously have to give Mr. Green props. First off he made two very
awesome slasher films that were a complete homage to old school
horror movies. He made them the way he wanted to make horror movies,
which were fun, gory, and over the top. Then it seemed as if he took
pages from such movies as Jaws,
and other suspense thrillers, and seriously created a complete and
utter panic attack for myself while I watched Frozen.
Instead of a over the top splatter movie, he made an amazing thriller
that dare I even say it sorta reminded me of a classic Hitchcock
film. This was seriously Jaws
for
skiing. In fact, back at school when me and my friend rented Hatchet
II,
I had asked her if she had seen Frozen
yet. (A lot of my old roommates raved about it.) She said no, simply
because her brother worked at a ski place, and the idea of that ever
happening really made her uneasy. See, this is when you know you are
one amazing story teller. When you made realistic things happen, and
cause people to start truly thinking “What if this happened to me?”
Well
like I said, Frozen
held my heart, and I really had to cheer for Adam Green since he was
a fellow horror fan at heart from Boston who was making some really
amazing movies. That's when I began to hear about the making of
Hatchet III.
I welcomed it with open arms, and began to follow the production
online.
I
hate to say it, but I still haven't gotten around to watching
Chillerama or
the seasons of
Holliston yet.
I've heard nothing but good things and I know when I finally get some
free time I'll try to tackle them. Funny enough when I was staffing
HorrorHound this past March, the cast of
Holliston was
there and my good friend Jeanette brought them in thru the back door
and seriously had them walk up and down the same flight of stairs
twice before figuring out where they were going. I remember keeping
the back door open and laughing my ass off at this before Joe Lynch
just looked at me and started cracking up. Nice to see that they were
easy going guys who didn't give a shit and like us were there simply
because they loved horror.
Well
I think it's pretty clear what a big Zach Galligan fan I am. The very
second I found out he had been added to the cast, I couldn't wait to
see the movie. I love Adam Green in the fact that he casts people who
were in movies we all watched growing up with. Such names as Zach and
Caroline Williams, brought a huge smile to my face. It's nice to
finally start seeing these people again!
Slowly
photos from set were getting released along with the epic Comic Con
poster of Victor in all his glory. Then on Halloween night last year
the first couple of photos and clips were starting to get shown.
Seeing Zach and Derek Mears standing side by side warmed my heart.
Then
the trailers were released and as much as I was sorta bumped out that
Adam wasn't coming back to the director's chair, I felt with Mr.
McDonnell, we were in good hands. The film had still been written by
Green, and he was very heavily involved in production, but it was
nice to see a crew member who had been there since the beginning was
taking the wheel. In fact, I honestly don't think anybody could have
done it better since Green didn't direct.
Now
this is the truly awesome part of this movie. For those who have been
reading/following my blog they know I had planned a trip to Florida
to attend Spooky Empire to FINALLY meet Zach Galligan. Well as luck
would have it, Adam Green decided a week after my trip that they were
going to have a party/fundraiser for the tragic Boston marathon
bombings that had happened in April. Since Green is from Boston, he
decided to do a week long of events to raise money for the amazing
cause to help the victims and families. One night he was going to do
a silent auction where the cast of Hatchet
III
would join him, to auction off some truly amazing items to raise
money, and then the next night in Boston show a private special
screening of Hatchet
III for
the first time ever two weeks before it finally got released. This
would be the first time himself, the cast, and a public audience
would see the finished film on screen. (pretty amazing huh?)
Well
the first night I won the Waxwork
II shirt
and was able to hang out and talk with Zach again and introduce my
friends to me. Seriously one of the coolest nights ever. The next
night was even better tho. In Boston was the premiere of Hatchet
III,
and they were showing the first two movies before hand in which Adam
Green and the cast would stand on stage and talk a little bit about
the production and the making of each one. This was truly amazing
since the cast just saw a few feet away watching the movies with us.
For those who have watched horror movies with an audience...mostly an
audience of fans they know how much fun that can be. The Hatchet
movies are perfect examples of that.
Hatchet
III was
everything I had expected. Many people are calling it the
Aliens
of the series. This is the epic conclusion to the amazing slasher
series that brought us one of our newest modern day villains. I
remember loving the shot of MaryBeth and Victor rising at the same
exact time. This movie picked up exactly where it left off and had a
bloody brutal opening. I couldn't stop cheering with everyone else.
Loved the opening credits with Hail,Genocide playing loudly over the
credits. Such a great way to set the tone for the movie.
I
loved of course the addition of the sheriff played wonderfully by Mr.
Zach Galligan, who in fact does a really awesome Southern accent in
it. Funny enough, I somehow thought he was going to play the villain
in this movie, but the night before at the auction he told me he
played actually the good guy. He was the voice of reason in the
movie, and after watching it he was seriously completely likeable
much like the first film's lead played by the great Joel David Moore,
who also attended both events. I loved the faint back stories we got,
mostly between Galligan and Williams as playing ex husband and wife,
who still clearly care about each other. I love how Williams is
pretty much playing the same character she played in TCM2,
looking for a story and trying to put the legend of Victor finally to
rest.
Daniel
Harris on the other hand, well...I've sadly never been much of a fan
of hers. I met her once and she was very nice, and I loved her when
she was a young kiddo in the Halloween
movies
(Not Rob Zombie's.). Eh, but now...I could take her or leave her.
She's MUCH better than the original MaryBeth, who was a complete
idiot not to return for the other two films. Harris' accent is pretty
cringe worthy and those eyebrows...oh those eyebrows...
Anyways
she really doesn't do much in this movie besides sits with her hands
cuffed and really just gives a lot of sass. But after all, her
character had been thru a lot, so I'll give her a break. Still
whenever she says “Get out of my face bitch!” I really want to
slap her. Eh...
We
got a great cast, with the S.W.A.T team coming into the swamp with
the local police to try and save the recovery and clean up team. Cody
Blue Snider pretty much steals the show as the nervous deputy who I
think represents the audience in this movie. I loved his little one
liners, pointing to the balls hanging from the tree, and of course
the epic rocket launcher moment that I had complete tears in my eyes
from laughing so hard from.
Loved
what a dick Derek Mears played (which is funny because in real life
he's one of the nicest guys. The entire night he sat next to Zach
Galligan a few feet away and the two took photos together on their
cell phones and were on Twitter...my heart was melting.)
Loved
how Kane and Derek go face to face and have one Hell of an epic scene
together.
We
got some pretty awesome cameos that I won't give away. One in which I
couldn't stop laughing over. Trust me if you are a huge fan of the
original movie, you'll love this one.
Part
III is full of action, lots of guns, explosions, bullets flying, the
whole nine yards. I loved how the sheriff, S.W.A.T member, and
paramedic are trapped inside the boat as Victor starts cutting his
way in. I seriously gasped when the sparks started flying. Great
tense fun moments like this was what made the movie.
Even
though this is the darkest of all three films, it still has lots of
humor, and sets the tone and this really is the end (or is it) I
would like to think so simply because it was the perfect way to close
this story.
My
heart broke at Galligan's line in the boat when he hears Amanda
calling and goes “It's my wife!” Seriously, so fucking sad.
I
loved the whole ghost story/supernatural element that Green had been
building on, and of course the epic ending that happens. I have never
screamed/cheered so much before in my life. Without giving anything
away, I loved the ending to this movie. Mostly the heartbeat, and the
very ending shot. It seriously gave me chills. When the credits
started to roll, everyone stop up and couldn't stop clapping. It
warmed my heart to see Adam Green stand there with proud tears of joy
in his eyes.
This
was an amazing story that took three very awesome movies to tell
Green's tale. I thought this movie was utterly amazing and exactly
the reason why so many of us love horror. My only true complaint was
the effects. I have being a snot about them, but even my friend
Jeanette leaned in towards me and said “Why does the blood look
orange?” The deaths, which have made the Hatchet movies weren't
really that mind blowing. I've heard many people say the same thing.
Maybe they wanted the deaths to take a backseat with this movie, but
they just didn't seem that truly awesome. Some of the effects looked
super cheesy and well...fake. But Hell, maybe that's what they were
going for. Who knows...
Besides
that, Hatchet
III was
a complete blast to watch and is my new favorite film out of the
series (When I told Zach that he laughed and said he knew why...I
have no idea what he's talking about...) Still, being able to watch
this movie for the very first time with the cast was amazing. This
was an event I'll never forget. I really do hope there isn't a
Hatchet 4,
but then again I'm sure people in the 80's said the same thing after
Friday the
13th
the final chapter.
This
seemed to close up everything neatly and after re watching it when I
rented it on I-tunes I seriously can't wait until it comes out on
Blu-Ray. Some of those shots in the movie were breathtaking.
In
fact Adam Green said if he ever figures out things with the rights he
would love to release the Hatchet
movies
as one big movie. I for one would love to see that. I mean what
better way to spend three hours drinking beers?
So
all and all an epic, action packed gore fest that I loved. Yet
another part III that goes in my favorites. Hatchet
III was
great, and I highly recommend it to anyone/
5
Stars!
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