For a while, it looked like slasher Victor Crowley's killing spree had ended for good, as HATCHET franchise creator Adam Green was content to end the series as a trilogy. But now, thanks to a pep talk from the legendary George A. Romero, who encouraged Green to give his fans "another Crowley picture", the release of a new HATCHET sequel is upon us. The killing spree continues in VICTOR CROWLEY, and you can pick up your own copy of the film at THIS LINK.
To celebrate the release of this sequel that Green once thought would never happen, I went through the many gory kills featured in these four films and chose my top five favorites:
5. Jason vs. Jason – HATCHET III
Even though Kane Hodder has now played "Bayou Butcher" Victor Crowley the same amount of times as he played Jason Voorhees, he'll always be known primarily for his performances as Jason. So while he has hacked and slashed his way through many other horror icons as Crowley, when he went up against a character played by FRIDAY THE 13TH 2009's Jason Voorhees Derek Mears in HATCHET III it was a special event. Jason vs. Jason! Mears's character, SWAT team leader Hawes (named after a JASON LIVES: FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VI victim), was ready for a fight when he came face-to-face with Crowley, and I was prepared to see an epic brawl… The movie doesn't deliver that, but it still offers the sight of one Jason tearing out the spine of another.
4. Gas Powered Belt Sander – HATCHET
The death of Joleigh Fioravanti's character Jenna in the first HATCHET seems like an important one in the franchise to me, partly because it's indicative of the overall series' tone, the mixture of horror and comedy. Here we have a comedic character who has been providing laughs all movie, now dying a painful, grisly death. It's also important because of the tool Crowley turns into a murder weapon in this scene, the gas powered belt sander, which he uses to grind into Jenna's face. His signature weapon may be a hatchet, but this gas powered belt sander has also been used in every one of the movies.
3. Double Chainsaw Ride – HATCHET II
I'll admit, this is a personal bias I carried into the film with me – it is my firm belief that the presence of a chainsaw in any horror movie instantly increases that film's coolness factor a certain percentage. (Sometimes it even works for other types of movies, like SUMMER SCHOOL or CHRISTMAS VACATION.) From the EVIL DEAD series to the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE franchise, I love to see a chainsaw put to use. So when Victor Crowley busts out an extremely long chainsaw to dispatch two characters at once (Colton Dunn as Vernon and Rick McCallum as John), lifting them up on the guide bar while sawing into their groins, it was like these kills had been put into the film just for me.
2. Human Pez Dispenser – HATCHET
Generally I prefer kills that utilize weapons over ones where the slasher tears into a victim with their bare hands (I like a slasher to slash, you know?), but an exception has to be made for this one. After watching her husband get hacked up with a hatchet, Shannon Permatteo (Patrika Darbo) turns to run for her life – and when Crowley catches up with her, he gives this sweet, middle-aged lady one horrific, disgusting death. Crowley grabs Shannon by the head, the camera swings behind him to hide the cut that allows the actress to be replaced with a dummy, and when the camera reaches the other side of him he is ripping her head in half at the mouth, pulling the top half backward. Her cheeks split, blood spurts, and the thing that really sells it all is the waggling tongue.
While this is Hodder's #1, his second favorite is a kill from VICTOR CROWLEY that would have been included on this list, but we don't want to spoil it before fans get a chance to watch the film. It's a kill involving a cell phone…
1. Coitus Interruptus – HATCHET II
My favorite kill in the HATCHET franchise isn't a particularly inventive or gory one, but it is one that I find to be quite amusing. While hunting for Crowley in HATCHET II, Layton (AJ Bowen) and his ex-girlfriend Avery (Alexis Peters) make the ill-advised decision to take a sex break. Their doggy style tryst is interrupted when Crowley appears beind Layton and decapitates him – but that doesn't immediately stop Layton's thrusts. In fact, his headless corpse briefly speeds up before coming to a stop. It's funny, it's ridiculous, and for me it's the most memorable of all the kills on Victor Crowley's body count.
To relive each one of the kills on this list, check out the blood-soaked video below!