Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Hatchet for the Honeymoon
Collapse
-
- Published: 09-20-2012, 08:34 AM
- 0 comments
X
Collapse
-
Hatchet For The Honeymoon
Released by: Kino-Lorber Entertainment/Redemption Films
Released on: 9/18/2012
Director: Mario Bava
Cast: Stephen Forsyth, Dagmar Lassander, Laura Betti, Jesíºs Puente
Year: 1969
Purchase from Amazon
The Movie:
John Harrington (Stephen Forsyth) was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He lives in a mansion, he's surrounded by beautiful women, he's handsome, and he inherited his parents vast fortune and wedding gown modeling agency…oh and he's a serial killer as well. He lets everyone know that right away, after a nice double homicide aboard a train in the film's intro. He's killed five girls so far (doesn't mention the men, but there's at least one), and he's a real nut job. Practically emotionless when around others, he lets loose in his secret room, filled with mannequins dressed in bridal gowns. On top of being batshit crazy, he's also pretty stupid, as he's been killing women from his agency. This nugget of a fact doesn't go unnoticed by the police though, and they're quite interested in the man. They can't seem to pin anything on him, but they're on to him.
Much to John's chagrin, he shares his mansion with his wife Mildred (Laura Betti), also wealthy, and is as unhappy as he can be with her. Mildred, who has an interest in ghosts and the supernatural, refuses to grant him a divorce, telling him he'll never be without her. That's not exactly the best thing to say to a psychotic murderer, which she'll find out later. But in the meantime, back at the modeling agency, John is surprised in his office by a stunning young woman claiming to be related to one of the missing girls from the agency. Helen (Dagmar Lassander, House By the Cemetery) is incredibly confident and immediately wins John over, securing a modeling job and perhaps more. He's pretty smitten with her, but not enough to stop his killing spree.
As the cops move in, so do the walls in John's psyche and things go anywhere but up for him. A mishap befalls the missus, at the hands of a wedding-veiled lunatic, and suddenly the movie takes an unexpected U-turn. To say anything more would ruin the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it, but its safe to say that the final act is worth the slowly-paced wait of the first two-thirds of the film, and delivers some wonderfully eerie moments.
Having been the virgin viewing of the film for this horror fan, and not overly familiar with Bava's work, there were really no expectations going in to this one. The movie pokes along pretty slowly and is void of anything gruesome, such as the U.S. titling of the movie might imply, but if nothing else the movie is visually striking. Bava also acted as his own director of photography (and according to the commentary was not something he did very often at that late point in his career), and does some interesting things with lighting and such. For example, there's a segment where John is walking through his sanctuary of mannequin brides with half his face covered in shadow. As he gets closer to the camera, the shadow covers his entire face, then the other half of his face becomes visible. It has an intriguing effect, sort of like the happy/sad face symbol used in theater.
Forsyth's performance is absolutely enhanced by the way Bava shot him, using different lenses at times, and of course the aforementioned lighting techniques. Even without Bava's influence, he does a pretty decent job at being a whacko, even if it isn't with quite the same flair as say Christian Bale in American Psycho (similar characters). But the show goes to Laura Betti as Mildred. Just her visual presence in the latter part of the movie may cause a shudder or two in even the more jaded horror fans. You might hate her when you meet her, but by the end, the hate should turn to fear. She becomes quite creepy and is really the most memorable part of the movie.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The film is presented by Kino-Lorber for it's high-definition debut with a 1080p AVC encoded transfer and an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. There's plenty of natural grain, and as they appear to thankfully NOT do with their other Redemption Films titles, there doesn't seem to be any digital noise reduction applied. Skin looks natural and there doesn't seem to be any annoying edge enhancement. The colors are quite nice and some of those great 60s fashions look pretty sweet. There is damage to be seen, mainly in the form of white specks, but it's never a distraction. All and all this film looks great. The sound is nothing fantastic, but the job gets done. The 2-channel mono track has quite a bit of hiss on it, but the dialogue is clear and the music sounds excellent. The groove that plays during the fashion show…so awesome.
The extras include some HD trailers for other Bava films and a new commentary by Video Watchdog editor Tim Lucas. Although kind of dry, the commentary is full of great information and interpretation. Lucas knows his stuff and has lots of it to share. Watch the movie with the commentary on after you've already seen it and you may walk away with a better appreciation of the film.
The Final Word:
Loaded with atmosphere, Hatchet for the Honeymoon may not be the best of the best, but it certainly has plenty of merit. A solid presentation by Kino and a good commentary up the ante on the release, making it a no-brainer for the fans. Newcomers to the Maestro may want to start with his more popular works first, but still can't go wrong with picking this one up.
Posting comments is disabled.
Categories
Collapse
article_tags
Collapse
- album review (218)
- album reviews (274)
- arrow video (272)
- blu-ray (3225)
- blu-ray review (4162)
- comic books (1392)
- comic reviews (872)
- comics (988)
- dark horse comics (484)
- dvd and blu-ray reviews a-f (1969)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews G-M (1711)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews N-S (1757)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews T-Z (878)
- dvd review (2513)
- idw publishing (216)
- image comics (207)
- kino lorber (391)
- movie news (260)
- review (318)
- scream factory (279)
- severin films (300)
- shout! factory (537)
- twilight time (269)
- twilight time releasing (231)
- vinegar syndrome (497)
Latest Articles
Collapse
-
Released by: Kino Lorber
Released on: February 22nd, 2022.
Director: Gianfranco Parolini
Cast: Lee Van Cleef, Jack Palance
Year: 1976
Purchase From Amazon
God’s Gun – Movie Review:
Directed by Gianfranco Parolini in 1976, quite late in the spaghetti western boom years, God's Gun (Diamante Lobo in Italy) introduces us to a bad, bad man named Sam Clayton (Jack Palance) who, along with his gang of equally bad, bad men, start wreaking...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 12:10 PM -
-
Released by: Kino Lorber
Released on: October 8th, 2019.
Director: Mario Bava
Cast: Christopher Lee, Reg Park, Leonora Ruffo, Gaia Germani
Year: 1968
Purchase From Amazon
Hercules In The Haunted World – Movie Review:
Directed by Mario Bava in 1961 and featuring a screenplay by Bava (and Sandro Continenza, Francesco Prosperi and Duccio Tessari), Hercules In The Haunted World (also known as Hercules At The Center Of The Earth and...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 12:08 PM -
-
Released by: Cinématographe
Released on: March 26th, 2024.
Director: Jack Nicholson
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Mary Steenburgen, Christopher Lloyd, John Belushi
Year: 1978
Purchase From Amazon
Goin’ South – Movie Review:
Made at the height of his career as an actor, 1978’s ‘Goin’ South’ sees Jack Nicholson once again in the director’s chair, seven years after his directorial debut, ‘Drive, He Said,’ failed to set the...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 10:29 AM -
-
Released by: Radiance Films
Released on: April 20th, 2024.
Director: Noburo Nakamura
Cast: Miyuki Kuwano, Mikijiro Hira
Year: 1964
Purchase From Amazon
The Shape Of Night – Movie Review:
Directed by Noburo Nakamura for Shochiko in 1964, ‘The Shape Of Night’ follows a young woman named Yoshie Nomoto (Miyuki Kuwano). In the opening scene, she’s working as a streetwalker on the outskirts of town and soon enough, she’s picked...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 10:26 AM -
-
Released by: Film Masters
Released on: April 23rd, 2024.
Director: Bert I. Gordon
Cast: Richard Carlson, Juli Reding, Lugene Sanders, Susan Gordon
Year: 1963
Purchase From Amazon
Tormented – Movie Review:
The late Bert I. Gordon’s 1963 horror film, ‘Tormented,’ is an effectively spooky ghost story made with an obviously low budget but no less effective for it.
The story revolves around a professional piano player...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 10:19 AM -
-
Released by: Grindhouse Releasing
Released on: March 12th, 2024.
Director: William Grefé
Cast: William Shatner, Jennifer Bishop, Ruth Roman, Harold Sakata
Year: 1974
Purchase From Amazon
Impulse – Movie Review:
Directed by the one and only William Grefé, 1974’s Impulse is one of those rare films that allows you to witness what it would be like if a really sweaty William Shatner got mad at a lady carrying balloons. Before that...-
Channel: Movies
04-15-2024, 01:20 PM -