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Hatchet
Promotional poster for Hatchet
Directed by	Adam Green
Produced by	Adam Green
Written by	Adam Green
Starring	Joel Moore Tamara Feldman Deon Richmond Mercedes McNab Kane Hodder Parry Shen Robert Englund
Music by	Andy Garfield
Cinematography	Will Barratt
Editing by	Christopher Roth
Distributed by	Anchor Bay Entertainment
Release date(s)	September 7, 2007
Running time	83 min.
Country
Language	English
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Hatchet is a 2007 slasher film from Ariescope Pictures [1]. Set in the Louisiana bayou, it is the story of the legend of Victor Crowley. A group of tourists discover that the legend is real and more horrifying than they ever imagined. It features an all-star horror cast that includes Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th), Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Tony Todd (Candyman), Mercedes McNab (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) and Joshua Leonard (The Blair Witch Project). Hatchet is billed as "a throwback to the glory days of horror that literally saws the face off the 'slasher film' as you know it." The film is not to be confused with Gary Paulsen's young adult novel Hatchet.

Taglines:

• It's not a remake, it's not a sequel, and it's not based on a Japanese one. Old school American horror.

• Stay out of the swamp.

• Joel Moore as Ben
• Tamara Feldman as Marybeth
• Deon Richmond as Marcus
• Mercedes McNab as Misty
• Kane Hodder as Victor Crowley / Mr. Crowley
• Parry Shen as Shawn
• Joleigh Fiorevanti as Jenna
• Joel Murray as Shapiro
• Richard Riehle as Mr. Permatteo
• Patrika Darbo as Mrs. Permatteo
• Robert Englund as Sampson
• Joshua Leonard as Ainsley
• Tony Todd as Clive Washington / Reverend Zombie

Hatchet was selected for the Fifth Annual Tribeca Film Festival 2006. The film premiered to 5 sold out nights and rave reviews. Variety, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times all hailed it as one of the biggest hits of the festival.

Hatchet was selected for the 2006 FrightFest ^[1] Festival in London and shown at The Odeon West End on the 25th August 2006. It was introduced on stage by Adam Green who hosted a Q&A session afterwards.

Hatchet was selected for Sitges International Film Festival in Spain in 2006.

Hatchet was selected for Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX in 2006. The film sold out both nights, resulting in extra folding chairs having to be set up in the theater and audience members sitting in the aisles. The film walked away with the audience award for "Best Picture" as well as jury prizes for "Best Actor" (Kane Hodder) and "Best Special Effects".

Hatchet was selected for Germany's Fantasy Film Festival in 2006. As part of the festival, the film toured Munich, Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Frankfurt, Cologne, Bochum, Hamburg, and Berlin.

The film's last festival appearance in 2006 was at the October Screamfest Horror Film Festival in Hollywood. Adam Green introduced the screening and promised that the film had found a U.S. distributor, although at the time he did not reveal the name of the company. He also suggested that the release version of the film was likely to have its violence cut down in order to achieve an R-rating.

Hatchet was selected for 3 more festivals in 2007 right before it's release, including Montreal's Fantasia Film Festival and France's Weekend De La Peur.

Harry Knowles from Ain't It Cool News picked Hatchet as one of the "Top 10 Films of the Year" for 2006. Also on the list was Pan's Labyrinth, 300, Children of Men, and Rocky Balboa.

MTV listed Hatchet as one of the Top 10 horror films coming out in 2007.

Looking to this film to help save "R-rated original horror" in an era of bad remakes and PG-13 films, the fans started the official HATCHET ARMY and have taken it upon themselves to raise awareness about the film. The group can be spotted at horror conventions nationwide. They have helped spread the word by contacting movie theaters directly to make sure that they are playing Hatchet on September 7th.

The film was originally given an NC-17 rating for extreme violence and gore. After two months of appeals and revisions, it has now been R-rated by the MPAA for strong bloody horror violence, sexual content, nudity and language. Director Adam Green found the process to be frustrating and arbitrary: "Ultimately, it came down to frames and a couple shots,” says Green of the re-editing. “There’s a few deaths that don’t go the distance anymore. For instance, Joleigh still gets the belt sander put in her face.* That was okay, but you can’t impale her on a shovel handle. Explain that one to me! And Patrika can still get her face ripped in half, but Richard can only get hit with a hatchet a certain number of times. It was thirteen times that he got chopped before; now it’s three." The unrated director's cut will be available DVD on December 18, 2007. [2]

• Official Site
• Official Victor Crowley MySpace
• Ariescope Pictures
• Hatchet at the Internet Movie Database
• Hatchet at All Movie Guide
• MTV Article about Tribeca Film Festival