‘Return to his swamp’
Victor Crowley is a 2017 American slasher horror film written and directed by Adam Green (Digging Up the Marrow; Frozen). The film is both a sequel and a reboot of the Hatchet franchise
The movie again stars Kane Hodder as the titular swamp-dwelling, supernatural serial killer, alongside Parry Shen, Laura Ortiz, Dave Sheridan and Brian Quinn. Horror movie icons Felissa Rose and Tiffany Shepis also appear.
Plot:
Ten years after the events of the original movie, Victor Crowley is mistakenly resurrected and proceeds to kill once more…
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- Audio commentary with writer/director Adam Green and actors Parry Shen, Laura Ortiz, and Dave Sheridan
- Audio commentary with writer/director Adam Green, cinematographer Jan-Michael Losada, editor Matt Latham, and make-up effects artist Robert Pendergraft
- Raising the Dead… Again – Extensive interview with writer/director Adam Green
- Behind the Scenes – Hour-long making-of featurette
- Trailer
Reviews:
“It’s bloody, gory, funny, sweet and heart-racing all at the same time. Adam Green may have been hesitant to bring the series back again for another outing, but this writer is very glad he did. Victor Crowley isn’t just a fantastic film, it’s the best Hatchet film yet.” Flickering Myth
“Victor Crowley features an excruciatingly overlong ‘sign my penis’ gag, an embarrassing cameo from Green and his frequent collaborator Joe Lynch as airline pilots, and all other attempts at humour are on the same level […] also suffers greatly from looking like it had a budget way too small for even a backwoods slasher like this, and there’s very little in the way of any kind of endearing style to compensate.” House of Mortal Cinema
“Though Green is back on board, there’s a sense that this is a smaller-scale film than the earlier Hatchet trilogy – it’s mostly set in a crashed plane (though we didn’t see a pricey crash scene) in a dark swamp and all the money has gone on gore effects rather than the matey horror celeb cameos of the earlier films (Green and Joe Lynch do play pilots in a brief bit).” The Kim Newman Web Site
“As all characters amalgamate to the land that should never have been stepped foot on again, a genius if not totally improbable situation happens prompting Crowley to resurface, ready to kill all over again. What then follows is what Green knows best; gruesome and grotesque murders, one by one in all their bloody fashion heralded by the monster’s vengeance.” Bloody Flicks
“The cast are all a hoot, clearly loving smashing through Green’s lively clever and literally and figuratively side-splitting script, honed through his sitcom Holliston. […] Victor Crowley is the funniest sickest and best Hatchet yet, and a terrific roof-raising showcase blend of Adam Green’s comedy and horror chops.” Live for Film
“The deaths are as depraved, demented and deliriously brilliant as ever, the pièce de résistance being a victim who gives a whole new meaning to fisting. The gore, guts and brains are everywhere, and it’s great to see Hodder showcasing how menacing he can be on screen again. There are also laughs aplenty.” The Hollywood News
“Although it may not be Crowley’s scariest outing, this is easiest the funniest flick in the series yet, boasting arguably the best dick joke maybe ever. It sounds cliché but Victor Crowley is an absolute blast through and through, the kind of movie you’ll want to watch again immediately afterward just to catch everything you may have missed the first time around.” Wicked Horror
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“It’s smaller scope, distilled story, and the fact that it’s localized in one spot make it all feel like this is a precursor to something else. As a result, this movie is perfect for whetting the appetite of Hatchet fans and getting them excited about the series again.” Horror-Movies.ca
Main cast and characters:
- Parry Shen as Andrew Yong – Hatchet franchise; Attack of the Sabertooth; Dead Scared; Shrieker; Starship Troopers
- Laura Ortiz as Rose – The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
- Dave Sheridan as Dillon – Sky Sharks; The Walking Deceased; A Haunted House and sequel; The Devil’s Rejects; Scary Movie
- Krystal Joy Brown as Sabrina
- Felissa Rose as Kathleen – Lilith; Bethany; Family Possessions; Clawed; Camp Dread; Sleepaway Camp; et al
- Brian Quinn as Austin
- Tiffany Shepis as Casey – Ouija House; Death House; Clawed; The Black Room; She Wolf Rising; Model Axeman; Axeman; et al
- Chase Williamson as Alex
- Katie Booth as Chloe
- Kelly Vrooman as Sue
- Jonah Ray as Del
- Kane Hodder as Victor Crowley
Additionally, Danielle Harris reprises her role as Marybeth Dunston from Hatchet II and Hatchet III in the film’s mid-credits scene.
Development:
Adam Green’s production company ArieScope Pictures partnered with Dark Sky Films to film the movie secretly. Green explained on the development of the new movie on his blog:
“So why not call it Hatchet IV? There were a few reasons for that choice. Even though this film does indeed play like a sequel, it also kicks off a new chapter for the series. As you know, the original trilogy was meant to be one long film. The story of parts 1 – 3 took place over the same few consecutive days and each film started on the very next frame the previous film had ended on.
Victor Crowley picks up ten years after the events of the first three films. While you’ll certainly enjoy this movie that much more if you’ve seen the original trilogy, you don’t have to have seen the first three films in order to understand or enjoy this one. When we began testing out early cuts of Victor Crowley we made sure to include people who had not seen the previous films just to make sure of this.”
Release:
The film was released in the US on Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD on February 6, 2018, by Dark Sky Films.
Film Facts:
To keep the reboot secret the film was called “Arwen’s Fancy Dinner” during the writing and pre-production process. The fake title was altered to “Arwen’s Revenge” during principal photography simply because a shorter title was easier to fit on the camera slate. Arwen is the name of writer/director Adam Green’s dog.
