Rent Hatchet 3 (2013)

Hatchet 3 review by George Hooper - Cinema Paradiso

To say that I wasn’t expecting much from Hatchet 3 is an understatement, the title alone makes you believe that the film is a horror movie spoof, a huge joke conceived by a childish mind intent on making teenagers laugh with over the top gore and surreal comedy but no, Hatchet 3 is an actual horror feature, one with horror royalty within but still no substance worth mentioning beyond the substance of fake blood of which there is plenty.

The story follows the murderous rampage of mysterious killer Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder), a man under a voodoo curse who kills anything that comes into his domain, a swampland that has seen more death and destruction than any other because of his hatchet. A young woman named Marybeth (Danielle Harris) however thinks she might have discovered a way of finally dealing with Victor for good and ending his reign of terror.

While some of the filming is interesting and sometimes even a little tense the film completely destroys any chance at tension with some death scenes so over the top you would expect them in a Final Destination film. The way sub level characters are dispatched without even a glance back makes every character in the film disposable. When you don’t care about the characters fighting for their lives you tend not to get preoccupied with the idea of liking the film.

While Hodder makes Victor as menacing as some of his other creations (Jason Vorhees from the Friday the 13th series) it doesn’t do much for this static picture, a follow up in a series that had already begun to show its age. While the film does set about wrapping up some loose ends to finish off the trilogy it drives you to a point where its hard to care about the ultimate conclusion, you are too busy waiting for an abrupt end to a miserable and gross film.