The first release in Dark Sky Films’ new Dark Sky Selects line is a snazzy steelbook edition of all four Hatchet films. Let’s dig into each one to see how they fare!

In the first Hatchet, Joel David Moore stars as Ben, a sad sack whose friends whisk him off to New Orleans to throw beads, see boobs and get wasted. But Ben just isn’t in the mood. Instead he wants to go on a haunted swamp boat tour with his friend Marcus (Deon Richmond) reluctantly in tow. He eventually finds a sketchy guy (Parry Shen) who is willing to give then a tour, accompanied by a colorful group of victims like the sleazy porn producer Doug Shapiro and his two nymphets, ready to flash their boobs on command, a happy-go-lucky older midwest couple and the quiet loner Marybeth Dunstan, who Ben discovers is hunting in the swamp for her family who went missing there recently. What none of these guys realize is that the swamp is haunted by the psychotic, murderous Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder) who has a tendency to murder the shit out of anyone he comes across. Will anyone survive the swamp?

It was fun to revisit the original Hatchet and appreciate what felt pleasantly fresh in 2006 when this came out. Adam Green was proud of the fact that he was introducing the world to a slasher killer that wasn’t a sequel or remake while also paying homage to his horror heroes of yesteryear (the film features several cameos from horror legends like Robert Englund, Tony Todd and John Carl Buechler). One thing that really works when Hatchet is at its best is the balancing act of horror and comedy. The worst horror comedies like most of the Scary Movie franchise and dreck like the Leslie Nielsen starring Repossessed don’t understand that while the comedy should be funny, the horror should actually be scary as well. Guys like Stuart Gordon and Sam Raimi understand this, and Adam Green understands this. While the banter between the characters is amusing, it never distracts from the visceral intensity of Victor Crowley’s grisly murder spree. Kane Hodder, who has played Jason Vorhees in multiple Friday the 13th films, knows how to create a threatening presence just by virtue of the way he carries himself and moves. Crowley feels unstoppable. This is the kind of situation you want your characters to be in. If you feel like your characters have plot armor or can handle the killer, then the tension dissipates instantly. Hatchet gives us a cast that, while some are obviously there to be killed off, we actually want to survive. But they have enough flaws and Crowley is just so unrelenting that we never know who will make it out alive. It’s easy to see why Hatchet, while clearly limited in budget, became itself a horror franchise with its own cult audience.

The image quality on this disc, which appears to just be a port of the original Anchor Bay release of this movie back in 2006, is not amazing. The transfer looks a little dark with occasional issues and overall appears dated. The 5.1 sound track also comes across slightly muffled at times, but this was a pretty low budget movie so that could just be the budget limitations on recording. The mix itself actually has some nice immersion with the kill scenes especially sounding pretty dynamic. This disc comes with a LOT of extras, a trend I notice consistently with Adam Green projects. It includes two audio commentaries, one with Adam Green and actor Kane Hodder and one with Adam Green and several other cast and crew members. The second is the more informative but Green is such a lively presence that both are worth checking out for fans of the film. We also get a 40-minute “Making of Hatchet” documentary as well as several shorter featurettes focused on specific aspects of the movie like the gore effects and Kane Hodder’s approach to playing Crowley. These are all very nice inclusions, particularly the “Making of Hatchet” doc and is full of info on how to get a horror film made on a budget as well as showcasing the love and care that Green and crew puts into making this movie.

Hatchet II picks immediately where Hatchet ended, in mid attack. After wrapping up that situation, survivor Marybeth (now played by genre favorite Danielle Harris) heads back to New Orleans to put together a group of badasses, bounty hunters and tough guys to take down Crowley (Kane Hodder), this time with the help of Reverend Zombie (Tony Todd) who made a brief appearance in the first film. The group of monster hunters include Marybeth’s Uncle Bob (Tom Holland, director of Fright Night and Child’s Play), Justin, the brother of the tour guide from the first movie (also played by Parry Shen), jokester Vernon (Colton Dunn of TV series Superstore), brick wall badass Trent (R.A. Mihailoff who played Leatherface in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3) and several other guys who will inevitably become victims of Victor Crowley’s vicious wrath. Will Marybeth get revenge on Crowley this time?

Hatchet II basically ups the ante by more than doubling the amount of kills and coming up with some fun, over-the-top ideas for death scenes like the ludicrously oversized chainsaw double kill. What Hatchet II adds in guts and goo, it loses a little in the characterization. This time, Marybeth is really the only character we grow to care about, the rest of the cast being mostly Crowley fodder. Interestingly, probably the character that gets the most development this time is Crowley himself, giving us a flashback to Crowley as a child being hassled and made fun of for his deformities. In a nice turn, we also get Kane Hodder himself playing Crowley’s father in a rare out-of-costume performance from Hodder who actually acquits himself quite well. Again, the film is treated to numerous cameos. In addition to the ones mentioned above we also get effects man/director John Carl Buechler returning as well as brief appearances from horror directors like Joe Lynch (Mayhem, Wrong Turn 2), Mike Mendez (Killers, Big Ass Spider!), Troma’s own Lloyd Kaufman as well as several others. Once again, Green has made a film for the fans and totally delivers for those slasher buffs gnashing their teeth in preparation for a fresh flick full of kills.

The image quality for the Hatchet II disc is definitely an improvement over the first film’s mediocre presentation. It still appears a little soft and dark at times, so we aren’t talking reference quality here or anything. But overall, it’s a decent effort. The audio is similarly improved from the first film and works quite well in the death scenes especially. Once again, we are treated to a bountiful feast of extras. First we have two audio commentaries, one with director Green, cinematographer Will Barratt (who Green has worked with on nearly every film of his career) and effects supervisor Robert Pendergraft and one with Green and actors Kane Hodder and Tony Todd. Also once again, both are full of lots of fun and useful info on the film and are worth listening to for fans. This disc also includes a 35-minute documentary “Behind the Screams: The Making of Hatchet II’ as well as a couple of shorter featurettes, and like the first film, these, especially the doc, are full of information on what it was like to make the film.

Like Hatchet I & II, Hatchet III begins immediately where part 2 ended with the film primarily following two parallel stories. The first involves the cops, SWAT and paramedics that show up in the swamp to deal with the mess left by Crowley from Hatchet II. The cops are led by Zach Galligan (Gremlins) as the beleaguered sheriff who is shut down by SWAT leader Hawes (Derek Mears who played Jason in the Friday the 13th reboot… Hodder must have found it immensely satisfying to have Crowley kill this dude) while paramedic Andrew (played by Parry Shen coming back as a third character) is just trying to hide and not die. Our other major plot thread involves Marybeth, now imprisoned after this whole mess and approached by Galligan’s ex-wife Amanda (Caroline Williams who played Stretch in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2), who has dedicated her career to researching Crowley, to help put him down once and for all.

As you can imagine, Hatchet III delivers an even higher body count than the first two, although it does feel like a bit of a step down from the previous two movies in a couple of ways. The disparate plot threads don’t really mesh very well, and some characters that we have been led to care about what happens to them dies almost randomly and unceremoniously, almost like the screenplay is just ticking a box to move things along. It’s not surprising this one feels less personal since this is the only Hatchet film that Adam Green doesn’t direct (although he did write and produce it), having left the responsibility to BJ McDonnell, a camera operator from the first two films. Still, those looking for Hatchet‘s over-the-top kills will find lots to enjoy here, although this sequel does seem to tone down the humor a little compare to the previous two.

For Hatchet III, Dark Sky has given us a terrific transfer with an excellent and clear image and a nice layer of grain. The tones are nicely contrasted with deep blacks splashed in bright red. The DTS-HD Master 5.1 audio track is a very robust, very loud track with a spacious separation. This is one you want to crank up as high as it’ll go and just let the mayhem wash over you. Now onto the extras, and you know they are stacked! First off, like the previous two films, this blu-ray includes two audio commentaries. The first includes Adam Green, director BJ McDonnell, cinematographer Will Barratt and make-up effects dude Robert Pendergraft and is a great listen for folks who want tons of info on the making of the movie. The second commentary includes Green along with BJ McDonnell again and Kane Hodder. This one as you’d expect does focus more on the acting side of the film and the themes that crop up in the Hatchet movies. Honestly the first commentary with the crew is I think the better of the two but Green is so engaging that both are work checking out. Hatchet III unfortunately doesn’t include the more extensive documentaries that the first two films had, but it does still have several shorter ‘making of’ featurettes with a focus on the effects work involved in the film (which is what I imagine is the main draw for a lot of people).

Unlike the prior two sequels, Victor Crowley picks up 10 years later after the last film rather than immediately after with survivor Andrew (Parry Shen) having written a tell-all book about the gruesome Crowley swamp murders. We find him in the middle of a book tour where he has as many people who blame him for the killings as he has fans of his (ghostwritten) book. His ditzy agent (Felissa Rose who played Angela in Sleepaway Camp) offers him a deal to go back to the swamp for an in-depth interview with a prominent talk show host (who turns out to be his ex-wife played by Krystal Joy Brown) for a million dollar paycheck. Andrew reluctantly agrees but pretty quickly comes to regret the decision when the plane they are traveling on blows out an engine and crash lands in the middle of Crowley’s swamp. Meanwhile some spunky young filmmakers have come up with the idea to make a film about Victor Crowley and head to the swamp for some on-location shooting where they watch some Youtube videos supposedly containing summoning chants for research. Quicker than you can say “head-stomping good times”, Victor Crowley is back once again and doing that thing he does so well, murderin’ the shit out of everybody he finds.

Adam Green is back in the director’s chair for this fourth Hatchet film, and the love for the genre is still readily apparent. We once again find the film populated with horror vets. In addition to the aforementioned Felissa Rose, we also have Laura Ortiz (from the Hills Have Eyes remake), Tyler Mane (Michael Myers in Rob Zombie’s Halloween films), Dave Sheridan (Deputy Doofy from Scary Movie) and several others. Plus Brian Quinn from Impractical Jokers and Jonah Ray (who gets the privilege of being the first kill in the movie) from Nerdist and MST3K. You can tell that Green was having fun with the material after a sabbatical too with the comedy in general being more broad than in the previous films (although there are one or two moments that get surprisingly dark very fast, giving the viewer a little tonal whiplash). I actually liked the structure of this one. It plays out largely as a bottle (single location) movie as the survivors are trapped in the crashed plane with Crowley laying siege to it, slowly picking them off. The film also uses a bright, garish color palette (largely from the warning lights in the plane) that gives it a livelier visual aesthetic as compared to the previous movies. Overall, this was a solid sequel that should offer up plenty of juicy kills for fans of the series. Plus stay tuned for a mid-credits sequence for the fans that gives hope we may yet get a fifth movie!

The video presentation, like Hatchet III‘s, is quite good. The high contrast lighting looks very nice and is juxtaposed nicely against the deep blacks of the outer edges of the frame. It’s a more modern transfer compared to the first two films, and you can really tell. The audio once again is a nice, robust DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that really gets a workout, especially during the plane crash and the kill sequences. Like the previous films, we also get a big chunk o’ extras to dig into. This time around for audio commentaries we get once again (you guessed it!) TWO tracks, one with director Green plus actors Parry Shen, Laura Ortiz, and Dave Sheridan and one with Green and cinematographer Jan-Michael Losada, editor Matt Latham, and make-up FX artist Robert Pendegraft. Additionally we get a “Fly on the Wall” documentary following the making of the film as well as a 30 minute featurette that features Green’s speech at the first screening of this movie. Green actually has a lot to discuss about the conception of this film that I found really cool. Apparently in the few years prior to making this, Green has suffered multiple major tragedies in his life and had contemplated quitting the film industry altogether. But apparently he was given a pep-talk by famed director George Romero reminding him of how his films have had a positive impact on the fans and how that isn’t to be taken for granted. On Romero’s words, Green basically decided to do another Hatchet film. Not only that, but he would make it completely in secret; no advanced press, no trailers, the cast and crew were sworn to secrecy. The first time anyone beyond the people immediately involved in the making of the movie knew about it was when it was shown for the first time under the guise of a Hatchet 1 anniversary screening (with the original cast in attendance even). In the footage included here of Green’s speech before this screening, when he finally admits that the audience is about to watch a new Hatchet movie, they go absolutely crazy, and it really is heartwarming in a weird way to see how people can have such a reaction and an attachment to a film franchise like this.

How Dark Sky was able to get all four films together in a complete collection must have involved some voodoo magic given that Lionsgate, who had slurped up the Anchor Bay catalog, owned the rights, and they’re notoriously stingy about sub-licensing. But I for one am glad they did. This initial release in the Dark Sky Selects line is packaged in a cool steelbook featuring an appropriate image of Crowley, hatchet in one hand and severed arm in the other and is an absolutely essential release for fans of this franchise, particularly if you don’t already own all four films. I honestly had a blast binging these gloriously gory, fun flicks and I think you will too.