Newbury Comics, a New England-based CD, DVD, comic, collectible… pretty much anything cool store, hosted a special advance screening of Adam Green’s Hatchet for friends, family, and a few hundred strangers at the Boston Common Theater. Why would Newbury care? Well, since Adam’s from the Boston are he’s been shopping there since he was a wee lad, star Joel David Moore is sporting a Newbury Comics “smiley guy” T-shirt for the entire running time of Hatchet. Needless to say they were psyched when they found out.
This was the first time I’d seen Hatchet on the big screen, with a screaming crowd of supporters behind it, and let me tell you it’s really a completely different film this way. This is the kind of movie that needs to be seen with a crowd to get all the cheering, laughter, applause and jump scares that amp up the enjoyment of Hatchet more than a few degrees. In other words, get your asses out to theaters on Friday, September 7th to see Hatchet the way it was meant to be seen!
Following the screening Green did a Q&A, working the crowd by not working at all, just being the laid back East Coast guy that he his. Of course he told the Dee Snider story (read it here if you’re not familiar with it) before the movie, but still had plenty left over for afterwards. Luckily for us director of photography Will Barratt and stars Deon Richmond, Tamara Feldman and Parry Shen were on hand, as well, so we got to hear different sides of what it was like to make Hatchet. The gist of the evening was two-fold; with the right passion behind you, any project can be everything you want and more, and if you believe in yourself and never quit, you can do anything.
Really a pretty kick ass message to take way from a horror film screening, don’t you think?
Green also re-confirmed that yes, Hatchet II is looking more and more to be a reality. The script is being built up and now it’s just a matter of assembling cast and crew, getting the money in order, and figuring out when the hell Green will have time to shoot it in the coming months. He also confirmed that when the sequel does happen, he really wants it to start on the exact shot that Hatchet ends on which, when you see it, will make you smile from ear to ear. Trust me.
The guys from Scars Magazine got the entire 20+ minutes of the Q&A on video, which hopefully we can show you soon!
The food was so good and there was so much of it … it was all you ask for from a Hollywood premiere but sans the attitude. Myself and my buddy Tony (also the bass player in Viper Rash) spent most of our time hanging out with the badasses from Scars Magazine, who had handed out free copies of their latest issue (the one with Hatchet on the cover of course) to moviegoers as they made their way into the theater. I gave away 500 Dread Central buttons in one fell swoop, as well!
Anchor Bay will be unleashing Hatchet in a very limited theatrical run across the U.S. starting on Friday, September 7th; be sure you get your ass out there and support it if you’re sick of remakes, reimaginings, sequels … even though Hatchetis not anything “new” per se, it’s a better approach to what’s been done before; a gory good time with a real monster and its heart in the right place. Bring your friends and get out there this Friday to see it! Support old school American horror, damnit!