Three out of Five stars
Running time: 93 mins

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.

What's it all about?
Depressed after breaking up with his girlfriend and resolutely unmoved by the countless Mardi Gras girls flashing their breasts on every New Orleans street corner, Ben (Joel Moore) persuades his friend Marcus (Deon Richmond) to join him on a haunted swamp tour. Their fellow tourists include a middle-aged married couple (Richard Riehle and Patrika Darbo, a pair of aspiring bimbo actresses (Joleigh Fioreavanti and Mercedes McNab), their sleazy would-be director (Joel Murray) and Marybeth (Tamara Feldman), an attractive young woman who seems to have her own reasons for being on the tour.

When their boat breaks down and their guide (Parry Shen) turns out to be a clueless chancer, the tourists quickly realise that they're lost in the swamp. However, that's the least of their problems, as Marybeth informs them that they've stumbled into the stomping-ground of deformed local boogieman Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder) and soon the maniac is chopping them all up, one by one.

The Good
Writer-director Adam Green has clearly spent a lot of time watching schlocky horror flicks and he has fun with the usual cliches, especially the ones involving gratuitous nudity and characters who are essentially too dumb to live. The tone is firmly tongue-in-cheek throughout and there are a couple of superb jokes in the script, including the year's best ringtone-related gag.

Moore and Feldman make decent leads, but scene-stealing honours go to Mercedes McNab, who's hilarious as Misty. The supporting cast list is essentially a roll-call of horror cameos, including Robert "Freddy" Englund, Tony "Candyman" Todd and, er, Joshua "Blair Witch Project" Leonard.

The Bad
The hatchet-related moments are a marvel of low-budget special effects technology and they're extremely effective, although they backfire slightly in that they're funny rather than scary.

Worth seeing?
Hatchet is an enjoyable Friday night horror flick with plenty of gags and the requisite amount of gore, but it's not as scary as it should have been.