Hatchet II attests to the diminishing entertainment returns of watching a belt sander grate through someone's face. In the original, director Adam Green regaled the hearts of slasher fans with a flashback to the shameless gore of the '80s, as mass murderer Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder) defiled bodies with a vengeance seldom seen in the 2000s. But in the sequel, Green merely fills gaping plot holes with buckets of blood. It begins on the heels of the original, with Marybeth (Tamara Feldman) sliding out of Crowley's slimy hands. After some cajoling, the citizens return to Crowley's bayou-swamp death trap — a shoddy blend of the woods in Where The Wild Things Are and the chambers of Saw. There, Marybeth and her friends seek revenge, and much carnage ensues. Green exploited the teenage-splatter-film æsthetic in his first outing; Hatchet II merely exploits our gag reflexes.
