Film Review: TO HELL AND BACK: THE KANE HODDER STORY (2017)

Documentaries that focused on a single individual can fall into two camps – one is that it’s too pretentious to actually say something serious about the subject or two it tells a well-rounded and comprehensive look at the subject’s life and career both the good and the bad.  Unfortunately, the second one only actually happens when the subject has already passed on.  So it is with great pleasure that To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story (2017) belongs in the second type and Kodder is very much still alive.

For those of you who are not familiar of who Kane Hodder is (and I doubt there is a single horror fan who doesn’t know who he is), Hodder is a stunt actor/stunt coordinator/actor most famous most famous for playing the immortal Jason Voorhees in four of the Friday the 13^th films as well as the character of Victory Crowley in the four Hatchet films (the forth film called simply Victor Crowley).  In addition to this Hodder has worked on a ton of films including Demolition Man (1993), House (1985), Se7en (1995), and Spawn (1997), to name a small few of the films. 

In this film Hodder goes into intimate details about being a young child who was abused to an early accident where he was horrendously burned to his current recovery and insistent on always helping others.  This is reiterated by a huge cast of actors and fellow crew members who relate their stories of working with Hodder on very productions.  Some of the people featured included John Carl Buechler, Sean S. Cunningham, Bruce Campbell, Robert England, Adam Green, and Bill Moseley, with is just a small sampling of the people interviewed.

Directed by Derek Dennis Herbert, this could have easily been a talking heads documentary about Hodder but the stories these people tell show a brighter like on Hodder as a person and Hodder’s own recollections shed a light on how he overcame so many elements in his life that would have crippled other people.  This is not just a film about the man and his work but a film that gets into the deeper character of a man who has continuously faced challenges head on and never letting anyone or anything decide his own fate other than himself.

This is an amazing story of an amazing individual that has had a profound effect on the horror genre and horror fans in general and this is a great film that expertly separates the myth from the man.

Film Review: VICTOR CROWLEY (2017)

Director Adam Green returns to his most famous creation in the third sequel in the Hatchet franchise Victor Crowley (2017).  Designed as a new chapter in the ongoing series since in this film Andrew (Parry Shen) takes center stage from the character of MaryBeth in the original Hatchet trilogy.  This is actually a great idea as it breathes new life in the franchise.

Years after the events of Hatchet III (2013), Andrew finds himself entangled in controversy whereas the greater public believes he was the true killer of the Hatchet murders.  Andrew is promoting his new book which tells the true story of what happened so that he can better clear his name…and make some money on the side.  Everything isn’t going as well as hoped and when his manager Kathleen (Felissa Rose) suggests that he return to the scene of the crime for a television show for a quick payday he jumps at the opportunity.  Misfortune hits them even harder when the plane carrying Andrew and the team of television host and crew crash lands in Victor Crowley’s (Kane Hodder) swamp.  Also, unbeknownst to Parry is that an independent film crew are also in the swap wanting to produce an indie film about the Hatchet murders; when they unknowingly resurrect Victor Crowley from his watery grave Parry and the television crew and the indie film crew find themselves trapped in Crowley’s swamp whom will stop at nothing at killing each and every one of them.

Despite being a fan of the original film, I wasn’t as big a fan of the first two sequels but that doesn’t mean that they weren’t just as entertaining and gory as anything being produced at the time.  Most of the actual story was in the original film and therefore there was little else to explore in the sequels.  This film is a completely different animal as it is fully aware of the horror fan culture with the addition of swamp tours and Victor Crowley souvenirs that can be purchased by tourists.  The addition of Crowley’s resurrection spell being available on You Tube as well as the “talk show” references to the television crew and Blair Witch Project indie film crew references give this film a lot of material to mine and riff at which makes this film infinitely more engaging and entertaining.  There are just so many great moments in the script that it would take forever to name them all but just let me tell you that this film was made by and designed for by horror fans.  The only real downside is that Crowley becomes nothing more than a force of mayhem and destruction with little time spent on developing his character any more than what we’ve already gotten in previous films but there is just as much gore and utter destruction in this film as in previous films which will satisfy horror fans.

One of the interesting aspects to this film is that it was filmed completely in secrecy and unveiled as a surprise to audiences.  When you view the film, you’’ll realize that most of it takes place in a single location (the crashed airplane) which makes for an interesting homage to Night of the Living Dead, where a group of people are trapped in a single location against a great evil outside the doors.  The film looks great (as usual) but the self-referential references set this film apart from the previous sequels.  This film also has a healthy amount of humor and as also Hodder provides some amazing physical and makeup FX.  This is a great addition to the Hatchet franchise and it opens the world up to different approaches in further sequels.

Film Review: DIGGING UP THE MARROW (2015)

Director Adam Green is a believer in monsters.  He has been ever since he was a small child.  When he meets eccentric William Dekker (Ray Wise) he is taken on a journey he will not soon forget.  In Digging Up the Marrow (2015), Adam is intrigued by Dekker’s story of a place beneath the ground called the Marrow in which monsters have retreated from the eyes of man in a place safe to them.  Adam and his camera man and frequent collaborator Will Baratt to decide to document their journey with Dekker hoping that Dekker is telling the truth so that they will have definitive proof that real monsters do exist. 

Adam is a believer who wants to see the truth in the stories that Dekker tells him even in the face of

contradictions that leave him believing that Dekker is not telling him the full truth but when he doesn’t heed Dekker’s warnings to proceed cautiously when facing the monsters of the Marrow he gets more than he bargained for and the truth will be a horrifying revelation more dangerous than anything that he could have ever imagined.

Green (the director) crafts a very smart documentary style fiction film which utilizes interview footage and actual documentary-style footage to tell a tale unlike anything he’s ever done before.  Green has made a career at crafting films that appeal to horror fans from his slasher hit Hatchet (2006) and its first sequel Hatchet II (2010) to the psychological thriller Spiral (2007) and the man versus nature film Frozen (2010).  With Digging Up the Marrow he gets to the heart of the ultimate question that all horror fans have which is “Do Monsters Exist?”

Although this may be one of his most reserved films (especially when you put it next to the Hatchet films), it is nevertheless an amazing addition to his oeuvre and career and one not to miss.   You are warned.  You are warned.