HATCHET: UNSTOPPABLE HORROR #1 – Review

In HATCHET: UNSTOPPABLE HORROR #1, available from American Mythology on October 6th, 2021, three tales of gory, grindhouse horror recount the brutal fate of those who cross paths with the deformed, hatchet-wielding swamp man, Victor Crowley.

The Details

• Written By: Ken Haeser, Buz Hasson, S.A. Check, James Kuhoric
• Art By: Ken Haeser, Buz Hasson, Puis Calzada, Horacio Domingues
• Colors By: Blair Smith, Emmanueal Ordaz Torres
• Letters By: Ken Haeser, Natalie Jane,
• Cover Art By: Vincenzo Carratu (cover A)
• Cover Price: $3.99
• Release Date: October 6, 2021

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Was It Good?

This 3-story mini-anthology is gross, profane, gratuitous, and lacking in any moral value. In other words, I love it!

Most people don’t think about the horror genre deeply enough to realize there are many sub-classifications. All they know is “horror” means “scary.” Fair enough, but you would never put The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in the same camp as It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. There are levels and flavors depending on how far (or low) you’re willing to go.

Hatchet falls somewhere in the depths of Southern Bayou Grindhouse Horror, based on the Hatchet film series by Adam Green. Without skipping a beat, this comic picks up where the films left off and there’s not a single dip in gore, shock, or black humor.

What I like about this anthology is the lack of predictability in the escalation of each short. It’s not as simple as “idiot people with no sense go wandering in the swamp, run into Victory Crowley, and mayhem ensues”. At least two of the three stories bring out swamp monsters to give Crowley a little competition, and that elevates the stories beyond the basic unstoppable slasher motif.

Surprisingly, the art in each story, while completed by different artists, is equally good. The styles are visibly different, but you never feel like any story is significantly better than the others. The artwork generally has an indie, grindhouse style with emphasis on shocked faces and flying intestines. If you like schlock horror, you won’t be let down by any of the art in this anthology.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

As with all anthologies, we’ll briefly cover each story separately and rank them based on what worked or didn’t.

Honey Island Rumble

A research scientist on the hunt for the Bigfoot-like Honey Island Swamp Monster, ventures into the swamp with her film crew and a pair of local guides. Suddenly, the crew finds what they were looking for, and then some, when Victor Crowley and the Swamp Monster go toe-to-toe.

Possibly the goriest story of the bunch and the most satisfying in terms of seeing stupid people pay the price for not running away when they have the chance. The one minor down point is also part of the story’s charm, when the rumble breaks out, anyone with sense would run, so you get a little too much disbelief in an already unbelievable story.

The Grunch

Victor Crowley attacks a prom king and queen during a late-night dare. When the queen manages to get away (almost), Crowley is dragged to a part of the swamp controlled by a different kind of swamp monster. One with hooves and horns.

This is the most surprising and supernatural story of the bunch. The unsuspecting humans meeting a grisly fate are almost an afterthought. We get to see just why the Louisiana swamps have a dangerous reputation, and it’s a sight to behold. The one down point is a little continuity slip where Crowley gets run right through the middle in the main battle, but the damage mysteriously disappears in the next panel.

Bloody Authentic

A pair of slackers decide to con an antique dealer by hatching (*ahem*) a scheme to sell off an “authentic” Victory Crowley hatchet. When the dealer insists on seeing where the item was found near Crowley’s ancestral home, the con artists get a close-up look at the real hatchet.

This is the most conventional Hatchet story in the bunch. Dumb people with questionable moral character get their comeuppance, and that somehow makes this story stand out for positioning Crowley as an agent of karma.

Final Thoughts

HATCHET: UNSTOPPABLE HORROR #1 is a disgusting and gruesome anthology from the makers of the Hatchet film series. While the stories pull from the existing source material, each entry is surprising for their general lack of predictability, especially with the introduction of other swamp monsters. If you like gory, grindhouse horror rooted in campfire stories and legends, this one is for you. Personally, I loved it.

Score: *8.5/10