TWO years after Hurricane Ka trina, New Orleans is the setting for “Hatchet,” which describes itself as an “old-school” slasher film, the pre-torture porn kind they made in the early 1980s.
In this case, the boogeyman is Victor, who was tormented as a child and supposedly died when his house was burned down years ago. Is it the belt-sander-wielding Victor – or his ghost – who is picking off the passengers on a cheesy cruise through the bayous?
Potential victims include the busty cast of a porn flick, a middle-age couple and a guy who is trying to get over being dumped.
Director Adam Green’s genuine affection for the genre helps make “Hatchet” a cut above average.
HATCHET
**
Running time: 82 minutes. Rated R (bloody violence, partial nudity, profanity). At the Empire, 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue.