Ed's Review Dot Com

ArieScope Pictures, High Seas Entertainment, Radioaktive Film

Joel Moore, Deon Richmond, Kane Hodder, Tamara Feldman, Robert Englund, Mercedes McNab, Parry Shen, Richard Riehle

Ben (Joel Moore), his friend Marcus (Deon Richmond) are in town for Mardi Gras. Looking for adventure, they were told to look for a haunted boat tour of the swam nearby, but could not find anyone who would take them. Finally the pair and assorted strangers find a shady tour guide who takes them on a creepy nighttime boat trip into the bayou, but he’s a fake and knows nothing about the local legends except what’s on his index cards. Their journey takes them into the lair of Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder), a freak of nature whose deformity has turned him into a bloodthirsty killer. Only Marybeth (Tamara Feldman), one of the fellow travelers, knows the secret that may keep them alive. Victor’s story is tragic, and shocking, and completely true.

I have been waiting to see Hatchet for some time since I viewed the newly released Hatchet2. This story is not too bad either. The two work together. Marybeth has some unresolved issues with a mystery in her family and sets out to solve the mystery. Victor Crowley is a fitting monster a la Jason in the Friday the 13th series. He has a reason to be pissed, and has a lot of ways to kill those who trespass on his territory. The characters are very low budget unknowns, for the most part. They somehow talked Robert Englund into appearing in a cameo in the beginning of this which is delightful, but aside from that, some of the characters are rather good. There’s a creepy wannabe porn producer who has a couple bimbos along whom he keeps talking into taking off their tops for the video, and the asian guy from Detroit who is the tour leader is a hoot. One by one the cast gets smaller, and it’s in good fun, almost like you don’t feel sorry for them.

I waited and waited for this DVD to creep up in my queue and suddenly, lo and behold, it appeared as a “Watch Instantly” and I was able to grab it. Certainly this pair fit together, and I rated the two films exactly the same. They are about equal. Neither outshines the other, although if you have a choice, watch Hatchet before Hatchet 2 and you’ll follow the whole story better. I saw them in the reverse order though, and I still see how the stories fit together. Certainly not stellar cinema, but very decent horror/slasher flicks and well worth the time if you’re a fan of the genre.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

BBC Films, Pathe

It is an English film, made by the BBC, so it’s sometimes hard to follow.  All the kids talk like the kids from “erry Pot-tair” but that’s part of the fun.  Basically, a student has committed suicide due to all the bullying and now he’s back to insure his revenge on those that hurt him.  I’m not sure why he had to wait till he was dead to get the strength to fight back, but that’s the idea. 

Typical horror fare of teens having sex before being off’d and kids going to wild parties being picked off.

Next we have everyone feeling remorse and taking the blame for what they’ve done.   There are a few twists and some red herrings here and there along the way.

This is not classic cinema by any means, but for fans of straight forward Friday the 13th type films, this is a vaild entry in that genre.  It’s very simple, but effective.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Insight Film Studio

Kim Basinger, Lukas Haas, Craig Sheffer, Jamie Starr, Leonard Wu, Luis Chavez

While She Was Out (available on NetFlix Watch Instantly) is a thriller.  It’s a small movie, but it has it’s points.    This reminds me of  I Spit On Your Grave, although not near as graphic, yet it does have some interesting kills in it that would do Friday the 13th proud!   (If you want to be truly shocked by a movie, I Spit on Your Grave is the one to do that!  It’s hard to find, but how it managed to get released in the U.S. is amazing to me)

Della (Kim Basinger) is an abused wife with a loser jackass of a husband.  Christmas Eve she has to make a last minute trip to the mall.  No parking anywhere to be found, and some jerk in a piece of junk car is taking up two parkings spaces.   She’s got to set this right!   So she writes the driver a note and sticks it on the windshield.   Now, I’ve wanted to do that lots of times, but never quite had the guts to pull it off.  But she did it.  When she came back, she found the parking lot is almost empty, the mall is closed, and the “0wner” of the car knows who she is.

From this point we find out what a bad-ass she is, and it’s a cat and mouse game of tag, you’re it, that goes on for the rest of the movie.  Sometimes she’s meek and afraid and sometimes she’s a wildcat!

It’s not a wonderful movie, but it’s got it’s moments.  It’s not terrible either.  It’s just a middle of the road thriller with a few clever effects.   It’s filmed in British Columbia, but it’s not got spectacular scenery.  It’s rainy and muddy and pretty darn ugly really, but that’s to fit with the mood of the movie.  It’s a chase to the end, and Ms. Basinger is not a wimp by any means.

There is an ending that I thought was very obvious, but since it isn’t shown, many people were baffled by what happens at the very end.  Let’s just say,  “What did you buy me?” was probably not the right question.

I was amused throughout the movie, but never blown away, so if you want something great to watch, this isn’t great, but if you want something to kill some time with, and you’re a fan of slasher flicks, you could do much worse than this one!