BADass SINema Unearthed - Blu-ray 4K UHD Review

Movie Review

Four films in, I think it is safe to say that Honey Island Swamp is getting crowded.

Writer/Director Adam Green’s Hatchet series just crash-landed (and I mean that both literally and figuratively).  Hitting its stride in the second and third installment, Victor Crowley, an unneeded fourth film in the franchise, wrecks most things we previously loved about the series.  The gore and the humor are both downgraded, making this feature film more juvenile than expected and just not much fun.

Victor Crowley is a giant misstep.

Kane Hodder returns to the role looking more like Predator than every before.  Either that or he’s sporting the face of one of those cracked-out Garbage Pail Kids as Crowley returns from the dead to kill more idiots in a swamp thanks to a YouTube video, including the lone survivor of the original Crowley Massacre, Andrew (Parry Shen).  He’s on a tour promoting his new book about the attack and signing copies of it, a pair of tits, and a flaccid penis while fans wait in line. 

Dick jokes reign supreme here.  They, like most of the humor in this one, aren’t all that funny. 

Yes, the frat boy humor falls flat and, as Andrew finds himself aboard a charter plane heading toward Crowley’s home, a B-movie crew below start filming their version of the events.  And, due to a plane crash, the two parties meet.  Ultimately, all of this narrative just feels a wee bit uninspired.  This film is supposed to be 10-year celebration of the series, not a nightmare of what could have been.  The problem in this train wreck is the fact that, after a pretty gruesome set of kills, nothing but boring shit happens for what feels like an hour.  People bicker.  And a plane goes down in the swamp.  Crowley returns and people are killed.  The end.  There's nothing too incredible here.

On a shoestring budget, the effects look far too fake to warrant the extra long takes that Green gives audiences with the over-the-top kills.  The camera lingers when it should cut away to make it feel more visceral.  Instead, Green has us stare at the gunk and bloody gruel of faces getting punched in or heads getting ripped off and severed arms getting shoved up vajayjays long enough for us to see exactly how they did it and (almost) the brands used in the effects.

It is the worst handling of overkill.   And then, quite unexpectedly, we get a winner of a scene.  This duplicitous nature doesn't help the movie score points because, through all the bad bits, there are a string of good hits.

The good parts come in three and they are solely the talent in front of the camera.  First, Hodder is again quite good and playing the monster.  Actress Laura Ortiz (Holliston, The Hills Have Eyes) is excellent to watch on the screen.  It doesn’t hurt that she’s so damn cute, too.  And then there is truTV’s Impractical Jokers’ Brian Quinn who has a small role on board the plane.  All make the film bearable.  Too bad that too much of everything around these actors is a strike.

There is one source of light; however, and that is during the mid-credits when actress Danielle Harris reprises her role in the Hatchet series and hops up to join the fight.  I would watch THAT movie, just don’t let Green write it.

Ten years later, Victor Crowley is beginning to show his age.

Details

MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 93 mins
Director: Adam Green
Writer: Adam Green
Cast: Parry Shen, Kane Hodder, Laura Ortiz
Genre: Horror
Tagline: Return to his swamp.
Memorable Movie Quote: "We're about to meet the only person to meet Victor Crowley and live to tell about it."
Distributor: ArieScope Pictures
Official Site: Release Date: August 22, 2017 (Los Angeles, California)(premiere)
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: February 6, 2018
Synopsis: In 2007, forty-nine people were brutally torn to pieces in Louisiana’s Honey Island Swamp. Over the past decade, lone survivor Andrew Yong’s claims that local legend Victor Crowley was responsible for the horrific massacre have been met with great controversy, but when a twist of fate puts him back at the scene of the tragedy, Crowley is mistakenly resurrected and Yong must face the bloodthirsty ghost from his past.

Blu-ray Review

Home Video Distributor: Dark Sky Films
Available on Blu-ray - February 6, 2018
Screen Formats: 2.40:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set
Region Encoding: Region-free playback

Dark Sky Films 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encode, presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio, isn’t a stunner by any means but it is suitable for the needs of the movie because it is a stylistic choice.  Shot digitally, the film has strong colors and deep layers of detail.  Black levels are solid and flesh tones are warm.  Everything is sharp, smooth and the bayou is very detailed.  There are no aliasing, banding, or compression issues noticed.  The Blu-ray release features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack and the lossless multichannel soundtrack is wonderfully engaged.  Hatchets slice the air.  Bullets whiz by.  And everything travels nicely from channel to channel.

Commentary:

There are two commentaries, proving that the cast and crew had more fun making the movie than we do in watching it.  The two included are a Cast Commentary with Writer/Director Adam Green and Actors Parry Shen, Laura Ortiz, and Dave Sheridan and a Technical Commentary with Writer/Director Adam Green, Cinematographer Jan-Michael Losada, Editor Matt Latham, and Make-Up FX Artist Robert Pendergraft.

Special Features

Fans get three supplemental items to view concerning the return of Victor Crowley.  The first is an interview with Adam Green.  The second is a peek behind the scenes.  And the film’s trailer rounds out the collection.

Raising the Dead...AgainBehind the ScenesTrailer