Hatchet III
Unrated Director’s Cut
Blu-ray | DVD
Directed by BJ McDonnell
Starring Danielle Harris, Zach Galligan, Caroline Williams
Dark Sky Films
Release Date: August 13, 2013

The latest installment of Adam Green‘s extra-bloody slasher movie saga Hatchet III has arrived in full force on Blu-ray, but unlike the first two movies, Green did not direct this one. He both wrote and produced the new movie, but decided prior to filming to hand directing duties off to newcomer BJ McDonnell – Green’s cinematographer on the first two Hatchet movies. When the original premiered on the film festival circuit in late 2006 and arrived briefly in theaters and on home video a year later, horror fans who had long been swamped by turgid remakes and watered-down PG-13 studio offerings lapped up every drop of crimson grue dripping from its celluloid frames. Though far, far from being a box office success, Hatchet‘s explosive popularity with fans warranted the requisite sequel.

Arriving almost five years later and with little of the fanfare that greeted the original when it debuted, Hatchet II briefly wormed its way into the national mindset once the news broke that it had been pulled from most theater chains due its being released without an MPAA rating. The seemingly manufactured controversy (which reminded me of the mild uproar over homophobic slurs used in Eli Roth’s first Hostel movie that was kept alive on the letters page of Fangoria for a brief period in 2006 mostly through the efforts of the director himself) couldn’t help Hatchet II build a fraction of the cult following earned by its predecessor and overall audience reaction was unimpressive. However, it did well enough for a prospective third movie to get the green light, which brings us to the present day and Hatchet III.

With filming set to kick off this week near Louisiana, the services of a handful of talents have been enlisted for Hatchet III, the third installment in the saga of feared swamp dweller Victor Crowley.

It’s been announced that a trio of new actors have joined the cast, starting with ’80s star Zach Galligan. The actor is best known for playing the lead in the beloved 1984 Joe Dante horror-fantasy Gremlins, as well as Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Galligan also starred in Waxwork and its sequel, and has continued acting in small-budget features with short TV stints sprinkled in here and there since then.

Also joining the cast is Cody Blue Snider, the son of Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider, and popular geek goddess Rileah Vanderbilt.

I know exactly what you’re thinking: WHO?!

Unfortunately for good ol’ Victor Crowley his creator Adam Green, the writer and director of the first two films in the Hatchet series, won’t be directing the next installment in the kill-tastic adventures of the swamp-dwelling slasher. B.J. McDonnell, the cameraman on Hatchet and last year’s controversial sequel Hatchet 2, will be making his directorial debut on the upcoming Hatchet 3. Green will likely remain on the new sequel as a producer.