Victor Crowley (2017)


REVIEWER RATING: 
5/10


You can't keep a good slasher down. The murderous ghost Victor Crowley returns in the 4th chapter of the throwback slasher series. Also returning is Adam Green to write and direct the franchise he created. Is the magic still there? Is Crowley as brutal as ever? Well thanks to a local screening I'm here to answer all questions, well the important ones anyway.

For those unfamiliar with the series, it is an old school 80s style slasher that has a vengeful, physical monster name Victor Crowley (played by horror staple Kane Hodder) eviscerating anyone that dares to enter his swamp. The special effects are always practical and the cast is often littered with horror film regulars in both starting positions as well as cameos. The majority of the cast is always slaughtered in super violent and original ways. The plot normally isn’t too complicated and the focus of the entertainment is normally on the violence...the sweet sweet violence.


 
So let’s get right to the good. The writing in this is some of Green’s best. It is absolutely hilarious. I had multiple laugh out loud moments. This is by far the funniest of the four movies in the Hatchet series. Particular standouts are Parry Shen (returning for his fourth time in the series) and Laura Ortiz. Everyone else in the film is pretty solid and all have great dialog and hysterical witty scenes. While all of that is great, Victor Crowley ends up being more of a comedy than a horror film.

The celebrity appearances are good, with Felissa Rose (most famous for Sleepaway Camp) getting both some great lines and a phenomenal death. Scream queen, Tiffany Shepis has one of the more serious performances, while done very well, doesn’t really seem to fit with the tone of the movie. Contrast that with Dave Sheridan who cut his teeth on various horror spoof movies like Scary Movie and The Haunted House films fits in perfectly with the cheesy tone and hilarious dialog. A strange addition is Brian Quinn who is most known for being one of TV’s Impractical Jokers. He manages to keep a distracting smirk on his face no matter what the scene calls for, I’m sure he had a good time but it makes me call into question his acting talent.



The kills themselves are sadly hit or miss. Some are brilliant displays of practical effects, and others are nothing to really write home about. While the comedy was the funniest of the series, the kills are the weakest. This is quite a surprise as the previous Hatchet films really made a name for themselves on the elaborate practical effects alone. Victor Crowley seems to not have the budget for the great effects in the earlier movies as even some of the classic dismemberment effects don't live up to the quality of the first three movies.

Speaking of the budget, or lack-thereof, it can really be felt on the locations and sets throughout. While the previous films were mostly shot in LA, it really felt like a swamp. The majority of Victor Crowley takes place inside one of the worst constructed airplane sets I’ve seen in a movie. A few moments would have been tolerable but you end up spending WAY too much time in this, you start to notice the flaws like the lack of decoration, the missing lights and storage you would expect in an airplane.

Despite its flaws, Victor Crowley is still a fun time. The writing is one of the funniest in the last five years for a horror movie, and it’s nice to see familiar faces return to a classic slasher series. The 4th is the weakest of the series but still worth checking out if you’re looking for a slasher that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
OVERALL: 
Despite its flaws, Victor Crowley is still a fun time. The writing is one of the funniest in the last five years for a horror movie, and it’s nice to see familiar faces return to a classic slasher series. The 4th is the weakest of the series but still worth checking out if you’re looking for a slasher that doesn’t take itself too seriously.


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