By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
2007 saw the release of Hatchet, a new horror movie that would become a franchise spawning three more movies, action figures and comic books. From the mind of Adam Green, it saw the introduction of Victor Crowley in to horror. I almost said villain there but unlike Michael and Freddy, he is really a victim. Indeed, Victor was a victim of circumstance and other’s actions while he was still in the womb. So, it is bloody no wonder that he reacts so badly to the intrusions into his territory in the movies. He is simply protecting his space.
Victor, we learn, is a repeater forever doomed to come back from the dead for eternity until he is reunited with his father. The legend is tested in Hatchet 2 but the ashes in the ruin are not his father so it fails miserably. While the intentions were good, the execution is flawed.
Victor was the result of an affair his father, Thomas Crowley (Kane Hodder who also plays adult Victor), had with the nurse who was tending his terminally ill mother. They fell in love conceiving Victor in the process. When Victor’s mother found out about their love in her dying moments, she cursed the baby robbing her husband of his heir, the one thing she couldn’t give him due to her illness. Victor’s mother died in childbirth and he was born with deformities.
Victor’s father, played by Kane Hodder, took his son and moved to Honey Island Swamp, supposed home of a Bigfoot type monster for many years. They would go to town but the kids would tease Victor over his appearance relentlessly. Victor never had contact with any other kids and that is a vital part of growing up. Within the character’s introduction Adam Green makes his monster/villain sympathetic by introducing the themes of bullying and isolation. Victor’s dad does not avail of any services the medical world provides, probably because he does not have the money to avail of them. The shack they live in is basic and Victor does not have much in the way of toys or games consoles or any of the other things taken for granted by kids these days. The basic joy of playing is extended only to in and around their house but if a stranger calls Victor has to scurry away into the safety of the house. It is the only way his father can keep him safe from the bullies. It is all he can do to give his so any sort of life free from any more pain than he already suffers.
By introducing the themes of being different, disability and poverty, Hatchet becomes a social commentary. We probably laugh at it without thinking about these issues but if we look at the real world, especially now, in this cost-of-living crisis, disabled kids living in poverty and their parents struggling to give them a decent life is very real. Indeed, it applies to all children these days but by adding these to Victor’s life it immediately elevates him to more than just another bloodthirsty slasher killer. It is society that has let Victor down as well as taunting bullies. His father’s poverty, their location out in the swamp and the attitudes of others are not Victor’s fault. It is clear from the scene at the grocery store that Victor is terrified of children because bullies are the only ones he has met so far. By this being his only exposure to children, it makes him believe others represent pain. All he has is his father and anyone else is a threat.
If his father had sought out social help then Victor would have known the joy of playing with other children. Kids don’t see colour or differences; they only see another person to play with. If Victor had grown up with this sort of emotional and physical contact then the pressure would have also been off his father. He could have availed of facilities and services for children like Victor but it wasn’t to be. So ashamed was Thomas of Victor’s disfigurement which is severe, Thomas thought it was better to keep him isolated. Intentionally or not Hatchet highlights the need for social services in society or kids slip through the cracks., Les we forget kids like Victor were put away into institutions and kept a dark family secret where they died forgotten while the world went by.
By keeping Victor isolated from the rest of the world, people being what they are will make up stories about the monster, the freak in the swamp. The parents would probably scare their kids with these tales as a deterrent to stop them from going into the alligator infested swamps. Rightly so, but, no-one would have thought the effect of these stories as the older kids get the bolder they get. They can be easily led by others with alarming consequences.
This is what happens one Halloween when a gang decide to go to Victor’s house and scare him with fireworks. His dad has gone to run an errand so Victor is locked inside the house. Thomas comes back to a burning house. Victor is behind the door trying to get out. Thomas uses an axe to smash the door down but doesn’t realise his son is behind it. Victor collapses as he is hit in the face. He dies leaving behind his dad who dies ten years later from a broken heart. Again, this may seem like a simple piece of story to fill in the plot but it is in fact a beautiful representation of the bonds between a father and son. Thomas literally gives up his life to care for his son. It isn’t even a question; it is his duty. Perhaps he never got over the death of Victor’s mother. A broken heart can be a burden but when you have a child involved, some cap their grief and put all their attention into the child. Life is all about their care and well-being and nothing will stop anyone from ensuring that happens. Thomas falling in love destroyed his son’s life and now he has killed the only thing he had left. Maybe the grief he had been ignoring finally could be ignored no more and ate away at him. He died alone and unloved which again brings in the theme of isolation and the importance of human contact. Like his son, Thomas had no-one. What a tragedy that in this world with billions of people, not one thought of reaching out to Thomas and giving him a lifeline. His money was good enough for Gertrude’s store, he was known in the area; yet nothing. How is that possible in this world yet it is sadly a fact that happens every day.
When you look at it, Victor is to be pitied more than feared. He spends the afterlife seeking out his father, the haunting wails of daddy echoing out across the swamps. You can hear the pain and longing in that cry. Regardless of his murderous ways, Victor is alone. Let’s face it, anyone stupid enough to go out there deserve what they get because all contact with the outside world has terrified Victor hence his actions. He is a kid desperately seeking his dad, the one stable thing in his life that loved him and cared for Victor regardless of what he looked like. This was attempted in the Rob Zombie remake of Halloween by showing the origins of Michael in an abusive household from his mother’s boyfriend and his relationship with his mother. But it fails miserably, not convincing audiences at all, unlike the one between Thomas and Victor.
Behind all the blood and guts and dark comedy, there is a sadness in Hatchet where you cannot help but feel sorry for Victor. We have seen movies like Mask, the Elephant Man and even Beauty and the Beast where someone who looks different deals with society in different ways. Hatchet falls into that category. Whether Adam Green inserted these themes deliberately or it is just new eyes seeing it, Hatchet is a horror movie that has heart and social commentary that is still effective in today’s society; perhaps more than ever before. That’s why Hatchet stands head and shoulders above the rest of the genre for its soul and emotion.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 