David Day Horror Movie Talk Sep 23, 2025 4/10

The comedy is without feeling. The violence is without warrant. The concept is as old as film. Monster bad – but monster also tragic – but get out of my swamp.

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Emilie Black JoBlo's Movie Network Sep 21, 2023 4/5

It’s one of those films that shows when you put horror fans with talent in charge, you get something great. Yeah, it’s not perfect. Yeah, it’s oh so very 2006, but it’s also so much fun, so bloody, it doesn’t hold back...

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Martin Tsai New York Sun Apr 21, 2023

If you’ve never witnessed bare breasts or blood spraying from severed limbs, you are in for quite a ride.

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David Keyes Cinemaphile.org Apr 23, 2020 3/4

The movie is a triumphant reminder of the plausibility of physical showmanship.

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Ed Travis Hollywood Jesus Apr 9, 2020

I think Adam Green did a great job of tapping into what made former slashers not only hits at the box office, but archetypal characters.

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Debbie Lynn Elias Behind The Lens Nov 13, 2019

Enthralling. Edge of your seat terrifying. It ratchets slasher horror up to new heights. Hatchet hacks its way to a return to the glory days of gore.

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Tracy Allen PopHorror.com Aug 9, 2019 8.5/10

Hatchet's gore is so over the top and silly that, even though a woman's head is literally torn from her body, you can't help but laugh when you see her tongue still bopping around.

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Kevin A. Ranson MovieCrypt.com Apr 30, 2018 3/4

In the spirit of the "set 'em up, knock 'em down" slasher genre, Hatchet plays fast and loose with tropes while adding its own bloody stylized spin and keeping things down and dirty.

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Scott Weinberg TheHorrorShow Aug 28, 2015

Feels like an old-school slasher flick that's been hidden on a dusty shelf for the past twenty years. And yes, I mean that as a compliment.

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Joshua Rothkopf Time Out Nov 17, 2011 2/5

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R.L. Shaffer IGN DVD Oct 14, 2010 8/10

The film might not host an original concept, but its attention to detail - the tiny things that made '80s slashers unique - render Hatchet a far more enjoyable experience than its competition.

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MaryAnn Johanson Film.com Sep 22, 2010

Lacking the satirical bite of the first Scream... this is mere pastiche that doesn't even wink at what it is pointlessly xeroxing from the past.

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Jeffrey M. Anderson Combustible Celluloid Sep 10, 2010

I enjoyed Hatchet quite a bit. I was never scared, and I can't say I laughed out loud much, but it has a very gleeful tone that invites the viewer in.

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Steve Biodrowski ESplatter Jul 5, 2008

This may be the bucket of blood that splatter fans were eagerly anticipating ... but it is also an excellent horror film with solid scripting and strong performances that make it appealing to a wider audience.

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Matthew Turner ViewLondon Oct 6, 2007 3/5

Enjoyably schlocky horror flick, with its tongue firmly in cheek, ensuring that there are several laughs to be had amidst all the gory, hatchet-wielding mayhem.

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Tim Robey Daily Telegraph (UK) Oct 5, 2007

Fun horror-comedy about tourists being picked off in the swamps. Tongues are firmly in cheeks; heads don't stay long on shoulders.

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Anthony Quinn Independent (UK) Oct 5, 2007 1/5

This low-budget horror spoof lasts only 84 minutes, but seems to take forever.

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Peter Bradshaw Guardian Oct 5, 2007 2/5

A reasonably serviceable horror, with much gory dismemberment, and featuring a kind of ancestor worship in the casting of scary-movie veterans Robert Englund and Tony Todd.

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Jamie Russell Total Film Oct 5, 2007 2/5

Billed as "Old School American horror", Hatchet's actually something far less classy: a technically inept homage to '80s slasher movies that's both bloody and bloody stupid.

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Neil Smith BBC.com Oct 5, 2007 2/5

Long before its howling bogeyman has savaged his last victim you'll be wondering if the movie has anything else to offer besides self-conscious homage.

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