After two hits, Hatchet III is the first dud of the franchise. This movie is somewhat the “greatest hits” of the two previous outings except less interesting.

Like the previous instalment in the series, Hatchet III picks up with the final shot of Hatchet II, as Marybeth (Danielle Harris) finally albeit temporarily takes down Victor Crawley (Kane Hodder). Marybeth makes her way to the local police department and finds herself arrested given her current state: covered in blood, holding Victor’s scalp, and muttering, “I killed him and they’re all dead.” Sheriff Fowler (Zach Galligan) dispatches paramedics to Honey Island Swamp to investigate Marybeth’s claims. Meanwhile the sheriff’s ex-wife, Amanda (Caroline Williams)—who also happens to be both a journalist and the leading expert on Victor—asks Marybeth for help.

Hatchet III is a movie that comes off as an imitation rather than an original offering. This might have something to do with the change in director. This is BJ McDonnell’s first venture as a director; however, he was the camera operator on the previous two movies.

Hatchet III reuses the tropes from the second movie. The island is now crawling with armed law enforcement instead of a makeshift militia – one must wonder are they here just to be torn limb from limb? Not too dissimilar to Reverend Zombie (Tony Todd) in the last film, Amanda claims to know how to stop Victor, but piecemeals the plan over the course of this movie’s meandering story. Williams’s performance isn’t as entertaining as Todd’s. On top of that, Amanda’s scenes take place away from Honey Island Swamp, so she’s never in any danger and the way that the scenes are paced you wonder if she’s concerned about the poor saps on Victor’s island.

Bonus footage reveals that the battle between Victor and the SWAT team was supposed to take place in the Forest of Gore, but a rainstorm washed the blood and guts away before shooting. That helps to explain the lackluster showdown. Even without the gory forest backdrop, the kills were uninspired and a retread of what we’ve already seen.

There’s a subplot that involves the Sheriff possibly getting back together with his ex; however, there’s so little interaction between the two that I just didn’t care. Their relationship is just one more forced story element this movie doesn’t need. Additionally, this movie has the same problem as Halloween 2, where the lead character gets sidelined for most of the running time. Furthermore, for some unexplained reason, Marybeth has become a much less likeable character.

One of the stars of the original movie comes back in a cameo, which is hands down my favorite of this series to date. Parry Shen is also back playing another character. While he plays the character straight, there’s a fun moment where a coroner addresses how Shen looks like one of the victims.

I’m still unsure of what to make of the movie’s ending. Is it meant to be upbeat showing us that Marybeth survived a third encounter with Victor Crawly, or did she become the next undying creature doomed “to haunt” Honey Island Swamp?

Rating: 1.5/5.

The Hatchet Complete Collection Limited Edition Steelbook is available now from Dark Sky Selects.

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The writer of this piece is: Laurence Almalvez
Laurence tweets from @IL1511

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