Once again, Kane Hodder returns as the superhuman killer Victor Crowley in Hatchet III. When I first heard about the sequel being green lit, I was excited. Then I heard Adam Green would not be directing, which after the mess he made of Hatchet II got me even more excited. Ultimately, Hatchet III succeeded where Hatchet II failed, but is it too little too late?
The movie begins where Hatchet II finished, with Mary Beth finishing Victor Crowley for good, or so she thinks. She heads to a police station, where she is quickly arrested and locked up. As police officers and medics swarm the swamp, Crowley comes back to life, while Mary Beth is introduced to a reporter who is also the ex wife of the local sheriff, who is obsessed with Victor Crowley and says she knows how to finally lay him to rest for good.
Hatchet III is a vast improvement over Hatchet II in almost every way. Unfortunately, there are no surprises, not even in the way Crowley dispatches his victims, which came across as disappointing. It was nice to see Parry Shen again in the series. He played a tour guide in the original movie, the tour guides twin brother in the sequel, and a completely unrelated medic in this film.
The movie certainly isn't slow, and it shows that Adam Green (who wrote this sequel) has certainly listened to the fans after the lacklustre second outing. Director B.J McDonnell did a great job with what he was given, and manages to tie up the trilogy nicely and keep the pace lively. The movie just didn't feel fresh to me. I can't say that I didn't enjoy it, but none of the kills impressed as much as the head split from Hatchet, which was a shame, because that bought something audiences of slasher movies hadn't seen before. Hatchet III also has a lot of energy compared to the last outing. This one moves briskly along, and is all the more enjoyable because of it. The humor is also reigned in and is not as prevalent. When this movie does try to be funny, most of the time it works. There are a couple of instances where the dumb humor of the previous sequel returns, but it doesn't hinder the movie half as much.
I'm certainly not saying I didn't enjoy the film, but I have to be honest, and while it was much stronger than Hatchet II, the third film was a little underwhelming. As someone who has been following these movies since before the first Hatchet was released, Hatchet III does have the same level of energy and enthusiasm as the original movie, but it also retains some of the dumb humor and unoriginal kills we saw in the second film. Maybe I am wrong for holding out hope that the Hatchet movies will introduce new ways for Crowley to kill people, but I feel that is what made the original movie, and part of why the second movie failed. While Hatchet III is certainly a bloodbath, it just seems as though Victor Crowley is going through the motions.
Hatchet III is fun, it is enjoyable, and if you don't expect to see anything new, it is a great sequel that is bigger in scope than the previous movie. While not perfect, Hatchet III is a great way to wrap up the series, and will appeal to any slasher movie fans out there with a hankering for slaughter.
Darkest regards......Dani.
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