Last week saw the release of Victor Crowley (in the U.S. at least) AKA Hatchet 4. I figured it would be a good idea to take a look at 2013’s Hatchet 3. On it’s release it seeemed like this third entry in the slasher series closed out a trilogy. It certainly feels final. Series creator Adam Green (Hatchet, Frozen, Hatchet 2) did not return to direct and would only provide the story and screenplay. BJ McDonnell took over directing duties and the film saw the return of series main stay’s Kane Hodder, Danielle Harris and Parry Shen. As a capper to a trilogy of film’s Hatchet 3 works. It’s a more focused film than the second entry and although not as good as the first film it never drags. The carnage and bloodshed kicks off from the get go and doesn’t let up until the credits roll.
Wrongly believing her actions during the second movie had succeeded in stopping slasher Crowley our hero Marybeth (Danielle Harris) is dragged (literally) back into his path of destruction. Her only hope for survival lies with the belief of Crowley expert Amanda (Caroline Williams). Amanda believes that laying the crazed killer’s soul to rest will finally put an end to the nightmare. Meanwhile Sheriff Fowley (Zach Galligan), his fellow officers and first responders, one who seems very familiar, learn that Crowley is not finished, is still angry and won’t rest until he’s slaughtered anyone unlucky enough to find themselves in his swamp.
McDonnell does a good job directing the film and I think Green taking a step back as director was a positive. There’s a fast pace to Hatchet 3 that was missing from part 2. In that movie the build up was too long and the kills lacked suspense. Hatchet 3 is all systems go right through till the end. The death scenes and jump scares are more intense and suspeseful and McDonnell nails those elements. Green still makes his mark here though in the form of the script and story. The film has a few lead characters this time and it’s not clear who, if any, will make it out of the swamp alive. As far as the story goes it comes across like Green put a lot of care into it giving all of the lead characters clear motivations and arcs. Always a plus in a slasher movie because they’re not just random victims who are where they are so they can die.
Zach Galligan (Gremlins) is great as the in over his head Sheriff Fowler. I’m a big fan of Gremlins and when I found out Galligan was cast in Hatchet 3 I was looking forward to his work here and he’s great. Caroline Williams (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2) as Victor Crowley expert Amanda is easily one of the films standouts. Amanda drives a big part of the narrative, Williams gives the role her all and I loved her in the movie. Now this is odd but I liked the way Harris and Green portrayed Marybeth here. She’s no longer the typical slasher final girl. She’s so OVER this shit. Marybeth want’s nothing more to do with Crowley. Her sole objective is to stay alive. Some could say she’s unlikeable here but I loved her character arc and felt it showed a totally realistic look at someone put into this situation yet again! Harris is great as always. Parry Shen is really good in this too but I don’t want to go into too much detail on how he’s back. The rest of the cast all do good work and as is the norm with the Hatchet series there’s a few cameos genre fans should keep an eye out for.
Hatchet wouldn’t work if it’s villain didn’t and that’s never been the case thanks to genre legend Kane Hodder. If he loves playing Victor Crowley then it really shows here thanks to the improved special effects make up used to create Crowley. In Hatchet 3 he looks more vicious and expressive than before. Hodder is able to convey way more emotion than he was able to in the previous entries and that’s due to the excellent practial make up effects used.
Hatchet 3 is a bloodbath. It really feels like a big send off to the series. Now we all know there is another entry out there this film still acts as a strong finish to what I guess you could say is the first arc of the saga. I haven’t seen Victor Crowley. As of now it has no UK release date. I hope it feels like a new beginning to the series and not Hatchet 3.5 because the end this movie gives to the fans seems more than enough.
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