There
seems to be a trend in horror movies to drop the series name and numbering, in
favor of the signature villain’s name, as in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre becoming Leatherface and Saw becoming
Jigsaw. The fourth Hatchet film is the latest to go down
this path, but in this case, there is a little life (and plenty of gory death)
left in the franchise. Indeed, for a film about the ghost of a deformed
psychopath hacking people to bits in the swamps of Louisiana, it is shockingly
funny. The big dude swings the hatchet again in Adam Green’s Victor Crowley (trailer here), which releases today on DVD and VOD.
You
could call Andrew Yong the “final boy.” Through sheer dumb luck, he survived Hatchet III, but the succeeding ten
years were difficult. After being tried and exonerated for Crowley’s murders,
he has done his best to trade off his notoriety. Reluctantly, he accepts (a
deceitfully exaggerated) offer to return to Honey Island Swamp with a camera
crew and his ex-wife “Sabrina,” a bargain basement Oprah. Drat the luck, their
charter flight crashes right over Crowley’s old stomping grounds.
It
has been ten years since Crowley was last heard from, but he is about to come
back with a vengeance, thanks to Chloe’s micro-budget film crew. To film a
proof-of-concept trailer about the Crowley murders, she plays several YouTube
videos of freaks reciting the voodoo incantation that raised Crowley the first time
around. That is what we in the horror movie business call a very bad decision.
Naturally,
a supernatural psychopath like Crowley always hits the ground running. Soon the
remnants the film crew take refuge in the wrecked plane’s fuselage with Yong
and his party. Unfortunately, Yong the former survivor knows only too well it
is only a matter of time before Crowley finds a way in.
Granted,
Crowley is ridiculously over-the-top
gory, but it is also wickedly sly and witty. This is honestly a funny film that
mercilessly skewers the media and fame seeking behavior. Plus, there is plenty
of what could be called splatterstick humor.
Parry
Shen is totally on the money as the disgusted-at-himself Yong. Likewise,
Krystal Joy Brown is horrifyingly spiteful as Serena. Together, they share some
terrific non-Valentines chemistry. As a bonus, Crowley features three horror movie veterans doing their thing: Kane
Hodder as the big guy himself, Tiffany Shepis as one of Serena’s unfortunate production
assistants, and Chase Williamson as Chloe’s indulgent boyfriend.
