Hatchet II
Encyclopedia
Hatchet II is a 2010 American slasher film
written and directed by Adam Green
. It is the sequel to Green's film, Hatchet
.
Picking up right where the first film ended, Hatchet II follows Marybeth as she escapes the clutches of the deformed, swamp-dwelling, killer Victor Crowley. After learning the truth about her family’s connection to the hatchet-wielding madman, Marybeth returns to the Louisiana swamps along with an army of hunters to recover the bodies of her family and exact the bloodiest revenge against the bayou butcher.
The film sees the return of Kane Hodder
and Tony Todd
who portrayed Victor Crowley and Reverend Zombie in the 2006 film, respectively. Danielle Harris
portrays Marybeth, a role originally played by Tamara Feldman
. The film was originally screened at the 2010 London FrightFest Film Festival
on August 26, 2010. It was released unrated in the United States on October 1, 2010.
) is attacked by Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder
), but manages to escape. Jack Cracker (John Carl Buechler) finds her, pulls her out of the river, and takes her back to his cabin. After finding out her last name, he forces her to leave, telling her that if she wants help, she needs to see Reverend Zombie (Tony Todd
). Moments after she leaves Jack is killed by Victor Crowley. Marybeth returns to Reverend Zombie's shop, and after demanding to speak with him, he reluctantly lets her in. After learning her last name, he tells her that her father was one of the boys responsible for causing the fire that killed Victor Crowley. He also tells her that Thomas, Victor's father, had an affair with his wife's nurse, after she was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Moments before dying, she places a curse on the child conceived by Lena from the affair. Lena dies after giving birth to the deformed Victor Crowley. After Victor is killed in the fire, Thomas confronts the three boys responsible. Both they and their parents deny it. Thomas becomes a shut-in and eventually dies.
Marybeth tells him she wants to go back and retrieve the remains of her father and brother. He agrees, but tells her she must bring a family member with her. After she leaves, Zombie calls Justin (Parry Shen
) and tells him his brother Shawn, the tour guide who was murdered the night before, never came back with the boat. He lies and says they are going into the swamp to find Shawn and the boat. He tells Justin to gather a group of hunters and a man named Trent (R.A. Mihailoff) to go with them. Marybeth returns home, where her uncle Bob (Tom Holland
) later shows up. He tells her she needs to stay away from Reverend Zombie, but reluctantly goes with her to a recruitment meeting in Zombie's shop. Zombie tells the hunters that he will pay them $500 dollars each to retrieve his boat and $5,000 dollars for the head of Victor Crowley. He tells Trent that he will pay him double to go, and Trent agrees. The hunters leave and go into the swamp, including Marybeth and her uncle.
They find the boat and as the rest leave two of the hunters, Cleutus and Chad (Ed Ackerman and David Foy) stay by the boat. The others split up to find Victor. Marybeth, Zombie, Justin, Bob, and Trent go looking by Crowley's shed for the bodies. Along the way Zombie tells Justin that Trent, Bob and Marybeth's father were the kids who started the fire that killed Victor. He says that once Crowley kills Bob and Trent, his soul will leave the swamp. After not finding the bodies in the shed, they check the main cabin. Meanwhile, the rest of the hunting party are killed off by Crowley. First Chad and Cletus, then Layton and Avery (AJ Bowen and Alexis Peters) and finally John and Vernon (Rick McCallum and Colton Dunn). While searching the cabin, they hear Victor outside. While hiding, Justin tells Marybeth of Zombie's plot to get her uncle and Trent killed. She runs to warn Bob but Justin jams the door shut with a chair. Victor turns up behind him and kills him. Bob and the others attempt to get into the room. Victor breaks down the door, and Marybeth attempts to attack him but is tossed against the wall. Trent attempts to fight him, but is killed. Zombie grabs Marybeth and drags her out of the house against her will and traps Bob inside with Victor. Marybeth screams as she hears Bob murdered by Victor inside. She falls to the ground crying and Zombie declares Victor Crowley dead. Marybeth says she will go to the police. Zombie tells her she is wrong as he points his gun at her head. She tells him Bob wasn't her real uncle. Her father's brother died of leukemia
when she was twelve. Victor breaks through the wall of the cabin and goes after Zombie, Zombie nearly chokes Victor with his hands, but Victor kills him by severing him in half with the hatchet and then pulling Zombie out of his skin, causing him to bleed to death. Marybeth attacks Victor with a hatchet, knocking him to the ground and striking him repeatedly with the hatchet. She stops and walks off just as Victor's hand twitches. Marybeth returns and stands over him with a shotgun, yells "Fuck You!" and fires the gun into his head.
released a teaser poster for the film. Adam Green stated that he would be writing and directing, depending on how long the other projects he was working on took. He also stated that if the projects took too long, he would pass writing and directing duties on to someone else. On November 24, 2009, it was officially announced that Adam Green would return to write and direct. The final draft of the script was completed on December 7, 2009. In order to keep details under wraps, even the crew did not receive copies of the script and the majority of cast only received select pages. Fake scripts, fake endings, and fake story lines were circulated around the industry and no visitors or guests were allowed near the set. The cast gathered for their first table reading on December 15, 2009.
would reprise the role of Victor Crowley. On November 25, it was announced that Tony Todd
would be returning. On December 3, 2009 scream queen
Danielle Harris
announced on her official Twitter
account that she would be taking over the role of Marybeth, which was originally played by Tamara Feldman
. On December 8, 2009 AJ Bowen and director Tom Holland
joined the cast. The rest of the cast was announced on December 28, 2009, R.A. Mihailoff, Kathryn Fiore
, Parry Shen
, Rileah Vanderbilt, Ed Ackerman, Rick McCallum, Colton Dunn and David Foy.
. The film was released unrated in 68 theaters across the United States by AMC Theaters as part of their AMC Independent program on October 1, 2010. The film was scheduled to be released in Toronto and Montreal theaters in Canada on the same day, but it was pulled because it was not rated by the cities' provincial rating agencies. The film was also pulled from U.S. theaters on October 4. Hatchet II was released on DVD and Blu-ray February 1, 2011.
, the film has an overall 36% approval rating from critics, with the consensus stating "Funnier and more gleefully gory than most slasher sequels, Hatchet II aims for so-bad-it's-good territory, but can't quite hack it." By comparison, Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 49, based on 11 reviews.
Hatchet III will continue the horrific saga of Victor Crowley, known as the ‘Bayou Butcher,’ and pick up where ‘Hatchet 2′ left off, with a Marybeth Dunstan getting revenge on the malevolent monster who killed her family while they vacationed in Louisiana swamp country.
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
written and directed by Adam Green
Adam Green (filmmaker)
- Background :Adam Green was raised in Holliston, Massachusetts and after finishing high school he graduated from Hofstra University in New York.Green’s very first job out of college was producing and directing local commercials for cable in the Boston area....
. It is the sequel to Green's film, Hatchet
Hatchet (film)
Hatchet is a 2006 American slasher film written, produced, and directed by Adam Green.-Plot:Set in the Louisiana bayou, it is the story of the legend of Victor Crowley...
.
Picking up right where the first film ended, Hatchet II follows Marybeth as she escapes the clutches of the deformed, swamp-dwelling, killer Victor Crowley. After learning the truth about her family’s connection to the hatchet-wielding madman, Marybeth returns to the Louisiana swamps along with an army of hunters to recover the bodies of her family and exact the bloodiest revenge against the bayou butcher.
The film sees the return of Kane Hodder
Kane Hodder
Kane Warren Hodder is an American actor and stuntman. Standing , he is best known for his portrayal of Jason Voorhees in four films from the Friday the 13th film series . He is also known for his role as Victor Crowley in Hatchet. -Career:Hodder is the only actor to portray Jason Voorhees more...
and Tony Todd
Tony Todd
Anthony T. "Tony" Todd is an American actor and movie producer, known for his height of 6'5", and deep voice. He is well known for playing the Candyman in the horror movie franchise of the same name, William Bludworth in Final Destination and for guest starring roles on numerous television...
who portrayed Victor Crowley and Reverend Zombie in the 2006 film, respectively. Danielle Harris
Danielle Harris
Danielle Andrea Harris is an American film and television actress, best known as a scream queen for her roles in several horror films, four of them in the Halloween series: in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers as Jamie Lloyd and in Halloween and...
portrays Marybeth, a role originally played by Tamara Feldman
Tamara Feldman
Tamara Feldman is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Mary Beth in Hatchet and in The CW television series Smallville, Supernatural and Gossip Girl.- Personal life :...
. The film was originally screened at the 2010 London FrightFest Film Festival
London FrightFest Film Festival
FrightFest is an annual film festival held in central London over the August Bank Holiday weekend. The first event was held in the year 2000....
on August 26, 2010. It was released unrated in the United States on October 1, 2010.
Plot
Picking up immediately where the first film ended, Marybeth (Danielle HarrisDanielle Harris
Danielle Andrea Harris is an American film and television actress, best known as a scream queen for her roles in several horror films, four of them in the Halloween series: in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers as Jamie Lloyd and in Halloween and...
) is attacked by Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder
Kane Hodder
Kane Warren Hodder is an American actor and stuntman. Standing , he is best known for his portrayal of Jason Voorhees in four films from the Friday the 13th film series . He is also known for his role as Victor Crowley in Hatchet. -Career:Hodder is the only actor to portray Jason Voorhees more...
), but manages to escape. Jack Cracker (John Carl Buechler) finds her, pulls her out of the river, and takes her back to his cabin. After finding out her last name, he forces her to leave, telling her that if she wants help, she needs to see Reverend Zombie (Tony Todd
Tony Todd
Anthony T. "Tony" Todd is an American actor and movie producer, known for his height of 6'5", and deep voice. He is well known for playing the Candyman in the horror movie franchise of the same name, William Bludworth in Final Destination and for guest starring roles on numerous television...
). Moments after she leaves Jack is killed by Victor Crowley. Marybeth returns to Reverend Zombie's shop, and after demanding to speak with him, he reluctantly lets her in. After learning her last name, he tells her that her father was one of the boys responsible for causing the fire that killed Victor Crowley. He also tells her that Thomas, Victor's father, had an affair with his wife's nurse, after she was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Moments before dying, she places a curse on the child conceived by Lena from the affair. Lena dies after giving birth to the deformed Victor Crowley. After Victor is killed in the fire, Thomas confronts the three boys responsible. Both they and their parents deny it. Thomas becomes a shut-in and eventually dies.
Marybeth tells him she wants to go back and retrieve the remains of her father and brother. He agrees, but tells her she must bring a family member with her. After she leaves, Zombie calls Justin (Parry Shen
Parry Shen
-Early life:He was educated at Archbishop Molloy High School, then an all boys, Roman Catholic school in Briarwood, in Queens, New York, and at the University at Buffalo. When he moved to California he worked as a dorm parent at Villanova Preparatory School, a private college preparatory school in...
) and tells him his brother Shawn, the tour guide who was murdered the night before, never came back with the boat. He lies and says they are going into the swamp to find Shawn and the boat. He tells Justin to gather a group of hunters and a man named Trent (R.A. Mihailoff) to go with them. Marybeth returns home, where her uncle Bob (Tom Holland
Tom Holland
Tom Holland may refer to:*Tom Holland , American film director*Tom Holland , British author*Tom Holland , British actor*Tom Holland , English footballer...
) later shows up. He tells her she needs to stay away from Reverend Zombie, but reluctantly goes with her to a recruitment meeting in Zombie's shop. Zombie tells the hunters that he will pay them $500 dollars each to retrieve his boat and $5,000 dollars for the head of Victor Crowley. He tells Trent that he will pay him double to go, and Trent agrees. The hunters leave and go into the swamp, including Marybeth and her uncle.
They find the boat and as the rest leave two of the hunters, Cleutus and Chad (Ed Ackerman and David Foy) stay by the boat. The others split up to find Victor. Marybeth, Zombie, Justin, Bob, and Trent go looking by Crowley's shed for the bodies. Along the way Zombie tells Justin that Trent, Bob and Marybeth's father were the kids who started the fire that killed Victor. He says that once Crowley kills Bob and Trent, his soul will leave the swamp. After not finding the bodies in the shed, they check the main cabin. Meanwhile, the rest of the hunting party are killed off by Crowley. First Chad and Cletus, then Layton and Avery (AJ Bowen and Alexis Peters) and finally John and Vernon (Rick McCallum and Colton Dunn). While searching the cabin, they hear Victor outside. While hiding, Justin tells Marybeth of Zombie's plot to get her uncle and Trent killed. She runs to warn Bob but Justin jams the door shut with a chair. Victor turns up behind him and kills him. Bob and the others attempt to get into the room. Victor breaks down the door, and Marybeth attempts to attack him but is tossed against the wall. Trent attempts to fight him, but is killed. Zombie grabs Marybeth and drags her out of the house against her will and traps Bob inside with Victor. Marybeth screams as she hears Bob murdered by Victor inside. She falls to the ground crying and Zombie declares Victor Crowley dead. Marybeth says she will go to the police. Zombie tells her she is wrong as he points his gun at her head. She tells him Bob wasn't her real uncle. Her father's brother died of leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
when she was twelve. Victor breaks through the wall of the cabin and goes after Zombie, Zombie nearly chokes Victor with his hands, but Victor kills him by severing him in half with the hatchet and then pulling Zombie out of his skin, causing him to bleed to death. Marybeth attacks Victor with a hatchet, knocking him to the ground and striking him repeatedly with the hatchet. She stops and walks off just as Victor's hand twitches. Marybeth returns and stands over him with a shotgun, yells "Fuck You!" and fires the gun into his head.
Cast
- Danielle HarrisDanielle HarrisDanielle Andrea Harris is an American film and television actress, best known as a scream queen for her roles in several horror films, four of them in the Halloween series: in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers as Jamie Lloyd and in Halloween and...
as Marybeth Dunston - Kane HodderKane HodderKane Warren Hodder is an American actor and stuntman. Standing , he is best known for his portrayal of Jason Voorhees in four films from the Friday the 13th film series . He is also known for his role as Victor Crowley in Hatchet. -Career:Hodder is the only actor to portray Jason Voorhees more...
as Victor Crowley/Thomas Crowley (Victor's Father) - Tony ToddTony ToddAnthony T. "Tony" Todd is an American actor and movie producer, known for his height of 6'5", and deep voice. He is well known for playing the Candyman in the horror movie franchise of the same name, William Bludworth in Final Destination and for guest starring roles on numerous television...
as Rev. Zombie - Tom HollandTom Holland (director)-Early life:Holland was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, the son of Lee and Tom Holland. He graduated from Worcester Academy in 1962. He is the uncle of Dexter Holland, the singer and guitarist for the American punk rock band, The Offspring, and father of American actor Josh Holland.-Dead Rabbit...
as Bob - R.A. Mihailoff as Trent
- Parry ShenParry Shen-Early life:He was educated at Archbishop Molloy High School, then an all boys, Roman Catholic school in Briarwood, in Queens, New York, and at the University at Buffalo. When he moved to California he worked as a dorm parent at Villanova Preparatory School, a private college preparatory school in...
as Justin - AJ Bowen as Layton
- Alexis Peters as Avery
- Ed Ackerman as Cleatus
- Colton Dunn as Vernon
- David Foy as Chad
- Rick McCallum as John
- John Carl Buechler as Jack Cracker
- Erika Hamilton as Lena
- Sarah Agor as Brittany
- Kathryn FioreKathryn FioreKathryn Fiore is an American comic actress.Fiore was born in New York City, New York. She studied Latin at Columbia University, then left to pursue a career in acting. Fiore began her career in a Broadway production of Picnic in 1994, where she played Millie and Madge Owens, alongside Ashley Judd...
as Shyann Crowley - Mercedes McNabMercedes McNabMercedes Alicia McNab is a Canadian-born actress perhaps best known for playing Harmony Kendall on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff Angel...
as Misty - Joleigh Fioravanti as Jenna
- Rileah Vanderbilt as Young Victor Crowley
- Nick Principe as Hunter
- Cody Blue Snider as Young Sampson Dunston
- Wayne Francis Canty as Jason
- Shawn AshmoreShawn AshmoreShawn Robert Ashmore is a Canadian film and television actor, perhaps best known for his role as Jake in the Animorphs television series and Iceman in the X-Men films. He is the twin brother of actor Aaron Ashmore.-Early life:...
as Fisherman #1 - Emma BellEmma BellEmma Jean Bell is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Parker O'Neil, one of the main characters in the 2010 film Frozen, and as Amy in The Walking Dead. Bell played the female lead in the thriller-horror film Final Destination 5...
as Parker O'Neil
Development
Hatchet II was announced in November 2008 when Anchor Bay EntertainmentAnchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment is a U.S. based home entertainment and production company and is a division of Starz Media, which is a unit of Starz, LLC. It was previously owned by IDT Entertainment until 2006 when IDT was purchased by Starz Media. Anchor Bay markets and sells feature films, series,...
released a teaser poster for the film. Adam Green stated that he would be writing and directing, depending on how long the other projects he was working on took. He also stated that if the projects took too long, he would pass writing and directing duties on to someone else. On November 24, 2009, it was officially announced that Adam Green would return to write and direct. The final draft of the script was completed on December 7, 2009. In order to keep details under wraps, even the crew did not receive copies of the script and the majority of cast only received select pages. Fake scripts, fake endings, and fake story lines were circulated around the industry and no visitors or guests were allowed near the set. The cast gathered for their first table reading on December 15, 2009.
Casting
On November 24, 2009, along with the announcement that Adam Green would return to write and direct, it was announced that Kane HodderKane Hodder
Kane Warren Hodder is an American actor and stuntman. Standing , he is best known for his portrayal of Jason Voorhees in four films from the Friday the 13th film series . He is also known for his role as Victor Crowley in Hatchet. -Career:Hodder is the only actor to portray Jason Voorhees more...
would reprise the role of Victor Crowley. On November 25, it was announced that Tony Todd
Tony Todd
Anthony T. "Tony" Todd is an American actor and movie producer, known for his height of 6'5", and deep voice. He is well known for playing the Candyman in the horror movie franchise of the same name, William Bludworth in Final Destination and for guest starring roles on numerous television...
would be returning. On December 3, 2009 scream queen
Scream queen
A scream queen is an actress who has become associated with horror films, either through an appearance in a notable entry in the genre as a frequent victim or through constant appearances as the female protagonist...
Danielle Harris
Danielle Harris
Danielle Andrea Harris is an American film and television actress, best known as a scream queen for her roles in several horror films, four of them in the Halloween series: in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers as Jamie Lloyd and in Halloween and...
announced on her official Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account that she would be taking over the role of Marybeth, which was originally played by Tamara Feldman
Tamara Feldman
Tamara Feldman is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Mary Beth in Hatchet and in The CW television series Smallville, Supernatural and Gossip Girl.- Personal life :...
. On December 8, 2009 AJ Bowen and director Tom Holland
Tom Holland (director)
-Early life:Holland was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, the son of Lee and Tom Holland. He graduated from Worcester Academy in 1962. He is the uncle of Dexter Holland, the singer and guitarist for the American punk rock band, The Offspring, and father of American actor Josh Holland.-Dead Rabbit...
joined the cast. The rest of the cast was announced on December 28, 2009, R.A. Mihailoff, Kathryn Fiore
Kathryn Fiore
Kathryn Fiore is an American comic actress.Fiore was born in New York City, New York. She studied Latin at Columbia University, then left to pursue a career in acting. Fiore began her career in a Broadway production of Picnic in 1994, where she played Millie and Madge Owens, alongside Ashley Judd...
, Parry Shen
Parry Shen
-Early life:He was educated at Archbishop Molloy High School, then an all boys, Roman Catholic school in Briarwood, in Queens, New York, and at the University at Buffalo. When he moved to California he worked as a dorm parent at Villanova Preparatory School, a private college preparatory school in...
, Rileah Vanderbilt, Ed Ackerman, Rick McCallum, Colton Dunn and David Foy.
Filming
To accommodate his promotional duties for the film Frozen shooting had to be split into two parts. The first portion began shooting on January 7, 2010 and ended on January 23. The second portion began January 15, 2010 and shooting for Hatchet II wrapped on February 24.Release
Hatchet II premiered in Europe on August 26, 2010 as part of London's FrightfestLondon FrightFest Film Festival
FrightFest is an annual film festival held in central London over the August Bank Holiday weekend. The first event was held in the year 2000....
. The film was released unrated in 68 theaters across the United States by AMC Theaters as part of their AMC Independent program on October 1, 2010. The film was scheduled to be released in Toronto and Montreal theaters in Canada on the same day, but it was pulled because it was not rated by the cities' provincial rating agencies. The film was also pulled from U.S. theaters on October 4. Hatchet II was released on DVD and Blu-ray February 1, 2011.
Reception
Based on 33 reviews collected by Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, the film has an overall 36% approval rating from critics, with the consensus stating "Funnier and more gleefully gory than most slasher sequels, Hatchet II aims for so-bad-it's-good territory, but can't quite hack it." By comparison, Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Normalization (statistics)
In one usage in statistics, normalization is the process of isolating statistical error in repeated measured data. A normalization is sometimes based on a property...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 49, based on 11 reviews.
Sequel
Director Adam Green originally stated that two more sequels would follow. In March 2011, Dark Sky gave the green light for Hatchet III. Green will not be helming the sequel, but he has hand picked the director. Hatchet and Hatchet II cameraman BJ McDonnell will be taking over for Adam Green on the third film.Hatchet III will continue the horrific saga of Victor Crowley, known as the ‘Bayou Butcher,’ and pick up where ‘Hatchet 2′ left off, with a Marybeth Dunstan getting revenge on the malevolent monster who killed her family while they vacationed in Louisiana swamp country.
External links
- Hatchet II at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...