The year was 2006 and audiences were handed quite the trick ‘r treat bag of horror releases over that twelve-month span. The remake hysteria was still in full effect, with far more thuds than thrillers. As if we were required to pay for our Hollywood sins, we were inundated with The Wicker Man, When A Stranger Calls and The Omen while we were also gifted two pretty solid re-dos in The Hills Have Eyes and Black Christmas. I found a few fun indie gems that year, especially The Host and The Gravedancers, and William Friedkin’s Bug affected me greatly for quite some time.
But the true joy of 2006 horror actually blasted my eyeballs compliments of the Family Video up the road from my humble abode in 2007. While both films hit the film circuit in 2006, larger releases didn’t happen until the following year.
I found both Adam Green’s Hatchet and Scott Glosserman’s Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon around the same time that year. They were both two-dollar purchases from the clearance bin in the back corner of my beloved video store.
Aesthetically, both films are beautiful nods to the 1980s horror most of us fell in love with at some point in time growing up. From a creative standpoint, the projects almost seem like spiritual brothers- not in the sense of storytelling or even vibe, but in the sense that two new horror icons unexpectedly came out of the horror fog to make an impact on a genre that had felt rather stagnant at the time. New ideas were struggling to grab hold, as evidence by the remake boom. Both Green and Glosserman tore through the film festival circuit like a mad man with a sharp killing utensil to make an impact on the genre like no other that year. It was a much-needed spark that horror fanatics and creative minds alike had been hoping for.
Hatchet takes us deep into the swamps of Louisiana and on a haunted tour led by a character named Shawn who seems like he was just pulled out of a “Girls Gone Wild” video. Ask your dad about that reference, kids.
Naturally, the tour gets stuck, smack dab in the middle of the night with only the darkness, the creatures that lurk under the water and a vengeful entity known as Victor Crowley. Born of the same lore fabric as, say, Jason Voorhees, Victor is far more brutal and heinous with his killings. The ensemble cast of the film, which included horror icons Tony Todd, Robert Englund and Kane Hodder, only ramped up the chaos- in all of the best ways possible.
Twenty-years after its original release, the legend of Victor Crowley spawned three follow-up films, Hatchet II (2010), Hatchet III (2013) and 2017’s Victor Crowley. Because vengeful monsters from beyond the grave don’t just go away, no matter how hard you kill them in the first film, right?
What set this film apart and garnered such a fervent following were the kills themselves. Crowley literally tears a woman’s head in half with his bare hands while ripping the arms off of a man during that same fateful night in the bayou. The blood poured by the gallon and the smart-ass script writing were a welcome infusion for a genre that had become bland over the previous few years.
Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon is a mockumentary that follows a wannabe serial killer following in the footsteps of ’80s horror tropes and his idols Michael, Jason and Leatherface. In this world, these killers are characters who actually existed in the real world and Leslie Vernon wants in on the action.
This film has a dynamo horror tandem as well, with Zelda Rubinstein playing a small role and Robert Englund in a great role here, as Doc Halloran (a nod to The Shining). Halloran is this film’s version of Dr. Sam Loomis.
The film really finds it’s sweet spot in Nathan Baesel’s portrayal of the titular character. He’s off-putting enough to be anxious around but there’s also a sweet innocence to him that has the audience rooting for the would-be slasher to achieve his bloodiest dreams. It’s black comedy from the jump and director Glosserman absolutely nails the tone, atmosphere and comedic punch. As a festival darling and with a definitively open-ended finale, rumors of a sequel to Leslie Vernon have been percolating for years.
Those rumors really began building up steam in 2017 when both Glosserman and Baesel acknowledged interest in continuing the story but were hesitant to see Leslie Vernon go the shlocky route.
Alas, in April of 2026, a sequel was announced, with director Glosserman, writer David J. Stieve, leading man Nathan Baesel and horror icon Robert Englund returning for the ongoing story. Talk about a 20th anniversary gift for the fans!
To celebrate it’s twenty-year anniversary, Hatchet in bringing the goods in the form of a magnificent and robust box set called “Blood in the Bayou: The Hatchet Collector’s Edition”.
This beauty releases on August 26th and will feature all four films from the series, as well as a bonus disc for each film. The set is absolutely bursting at the seams with incredible bonus commentary, a 100-page booklet, custom art, a three-part graphic novel book, a VHS (!!) of the original film and a ton more.
Umbrella Entertainment went above and beyond the extra mile on this release. Seriously consider pre-ordering today as this won’t last long.
Not for nothing, the Collector’s Edition of Behind The Mask presents the film in beautiful 2K master, which, in my opinion, only heightens the mockumentary feel of the film. This edition also offers up a few fun behind-the-scenes extras, but I suspect once the sequel comes out, we will get a better collector’s set much like ol’ Victor Crowley is rightfully getting.
Both films rest in a decrepit place in my heart, for a variety of reasons, but what really clinches their spot among my favorites of the early 2000’s in the genre is that they brought something new and exciting to the genre we all love so damn much. For that, we should be forever thankful to these two vicious engines that could.
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