What Happened to Hatchet II? Inside Adam Green’s Bloody Cult Horror Sequel

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The What Happened to This Horror Movie episode on Hatchet II was written by Jaime Vasquez:

When Hatchet II hit theaters, it crashed and burned. Writer and director Adam Green set out to make a movie for the fans who had turned the original Hatchet into a cult hit, with one simple goal: give them more of what made the first film special. Sounds easy enough, right? But theaters and some moviegoers treated it less like a celebration and more like something to avoid.

Controversial for its excessive gore, the sequel reunited most of the original cast and crew, though with some notable exceptions. Why was actress Tamara Feldman replaced by scream queen Danielle Harris? Why did a crew member walk off set shortly after filming began? And how did exhibitors and rental companies react to the film’s extreme violence?

Grab an assortment of weapons and some bug spray. We’re headed to Honey Island Swamp to hunt down Victor Crowley and find out what happened to Adam Green’s Hatchet II.

From Cult Favorite to Sequel

Green had already made a name for himself in horror with the well-received survival thriller Frozen and, of course, 2006’s Hatchet.

The marketing for the original Hatchet was just as straightforward as the movie itself, proudly declaring that it was “not a remake, not a sequel, and not based on a Japanese horror movie,” a direct jab at the trends dominating the genre at the time. Another tagline described it as “old school American horror,” which was pretty accurate. Hatchet was designed as a throwback to the slashers of the 1980s, where the stories were simple and the blood flowed freely.

While the movie wasn’t a major box office success, it quickly developed a devoted cult following, leaving horror fans eager for more of Victor Crowley and his swamp-soaked carnage.

Recognizing that demand, Anchor Bay announced plans for a follow-up in November 2008, even releasing teaser artwork through MySpace and Ariescope, Adam Green’s production company.

However, the road to a second installment wasn’t nearly as simple as it seemed. Between contractual obligations and Green’s own reluctance to immediately revisit the franchise, development moved slowly. The filmmaker later revealed that he turned down the opportunity to direct Hatchet II five different times, feeling that the original project had consumed so much time and energy that he needed some distance before fully committing again.

Keeping Hatchet II Secret

The script’s final draft was dated December 7, 2009, and, in keeping with the production’s rapid pace, the cast assembled for a table read just over a week later on December 15.

To prevent details from leaking, crew members weren’t given copies of the screenplay, while most actors received only the pages relevant to their scenes. The secrecy extended even further, with fake scripts, false endings, and fabricated plot points deliberately circulated while visitors were barred from the set.

One of the biggest changes involved the role of Marybeth Dunston.

Why Danielle Harris Replaced Tamara Feldman

Actress Tamara Feldman, who played Marybeth in the original Hatchet, did not return for the sequel, prompting Adam Green to cast Halloween veteran Danielle Harris instead.

Interestingly, Harris had nearly landed the role the first time around. However, with Tony Todd, Robert Englund, and Kane Hodder already in the cast, Green felt adding another well-known horror icon might be overkill. Instead, he opted for Feldman, who was a much fresher face at the time.

Another complication was that Feldman and Green reportedly had different ideas about where the sequel should take Marybeth, something that became increasingly difficult to work around considering the character had survived the first film.

Despite the noticeable physical difference (Feldman stands roughly eight inches taller than Harris), Danielle stepped into the role with confidence. She later joked that her only stipulation was that Green admit he had been wrong for not casting her the first time around.

Whichever performance you prefer, each actress brings something different to the character. Feldman has that classic “final girl” energy, while Harris brings years of horror experience and the attitude of someone who’s simply finished being afraid of Victor Crowley. Both performances work well for the stories they’re telling.

Kane Hodder Takes on Two Roles

Green wanted Kane Hodder to return as Victor Crowley, but this time he challenged the horror legend to do more than stunt work.

Having seen how expressive he could be beneath Jason Voorhees’ hockey mask, Green believed Hodder had untapped dramatic potential. To showcase that side of him, Hodder pulled double duty by also portraying Victor’s father, Thomas Crowley, in several key flashbacks.

The role gave him the opportunity to perform emotional scenes without heavy makeup hiding his face.

Victor Crowley’s makeup was also redesigned to be softer and less restrictive than it had been in the original film, giving Hodder greater freedom with both his movements and facial expressions.

Tony Todd Returns as Reverend Zombie

Returning as Reverend Zombie was the late, great Tony Todd, though this time the character would play a much larger role.

Todd reportedly became so invested in Reverend Zombie that Adam Green claimed he received text messages from the actor at all hours of the night, sometimes as late as three in the morning, asking detailed questions about the character’s motivations and backstory, including whether Reverend Zombie actually possessed magical abilities.

In the film, Reverend Zombie assembles a group of locals with the promise of $500 (later increased to $5,000) if they’ll accompany him into Honey Island Swamp to hunt down Victor Crowley.

As usual, Todd elevates every scene he’s in. Even while playing an underhanded, money-hungry schemer, there’s still part of you rooting for him to somehow make it out with his spine intact.

AJ Bowen Nearly Left Acting

AJ Bowen’s character, Layton, was written specifically with Bowen in mind, allowing Adam Green to tailor the role around him as a performer. The gamble paid off.

According to Bowen, Hatchet II ultimately helped save his career. After years of nonstop promotional work for previous films, he had become burned out and was seriously considering leaving acting behind altogether. Before Green called, Bowen was even thinking about attending culinary school.

When he wasn’t in front of the camera, Bowen still showed up on set during his days off to help however he could. Despite saying he had very little free time during production, that lack of downtime was largely by choice. He found himself drawn to the family atmosphere surrounding the cast and crew.

Tom Holland Joins the Cast

Tom Holland and Adam Green were already friends, having met through one of Mick Garris’s famous Masters of Horror dinners. Even so, Holland was surprised when Green asked him to appear in the film, as the filmmaker hadn’t acted on screen in several years despite originally beginning his career as an actor.

To connect with the role of Marybeth’s Uncle Bob, Holland credited Danielle Harris with helping restore his confidence. Her emotional performance pulled him into the scene and even helped him recover dialogue that he had briefly forgotten.

Feeding off Harris’s energy, Holland delivered a convincing performance as the protective Uncle Bob.

Horror Icons, Extreme Gore, and a Brutal Production

Leatherface vs. Jason

R.A. Mihailoff plays Trent, arguably the physically strongest member of Reverend Zombie’s hunting party. He brought even more genre credibility to the production, having previously portrayed Leatherface in Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III.

At Kane Hodder’s suggestion, Mihailoff performed his own stunts during their fight sequence, something he was more than happy to do. So when you watch these two square off, you’re essentially watching Leatherface versus Jason Voorhees, a pretty incredible piece of horror history.

Green later explained that Trent’s death was inspired by the infamous curb stomp scene in American History X, though somehow it ends up looking considerably less painful.

Familiar Faces Return

Also returning are visual effects artist John Carl Buechler as Jack Cracker and Perry Shen, this time playing Justin after portraying Justin’s brother Shawn in the first movie, because… why not?

Adam Green, who briefly appeared in the original film, once again pops up as the “guy who throws up on the sidewalk,” although the role officially remains uncredited.

Making Hatchet II

Shot on location in Louisiana, with additional material filmed in California, Hatchet II was completed in an impressive seventeen and a half days.

The production pushed its practical effects to even greater extremes than the original. According to horror outlet Bloody Disgusting, approximately 136 gallons of fake blood were used during filming, more than double the reported 55 gallons used on the first Hatchet.

The crew reportedly drenched the set in fake blood fired from mortar cannons, creating some of the sequel’s most outrageous kill sequences.

The excessive gore was apparently too much for one returning crew member. A boom operator who had previously worked with Green on Frozen reportedly left after only two days due to moral concerns over the film’s graphic content. Fortunately for Green, that sentiment wasn’t shared by most of the returning crew.

Bringing back much of the original team was reportedly one of Adam Green’s biggest conditions during negotiations with the production company. Dark Sky Films not only agreed to reunite his crew but also resisted any pressure to make the sequel more mainstream.

Instead, Green was given considerable creative freedom, allowing Hatchet II to function not just as a direct continuation of the original film, but as a spiritual extension of everything fans loved about it.

Wearing Multiple Hats

The film’s modest budget meant many cast and crew members had to take on multiple responsibilities.

Producer Sarah Elbert even helped with wardrobe decisions whenever extra hands were needed, illustrating the collaborative, independent spirit that defined the production.

Much of the movie was shot in the Louisiana swamps, but portions of the swamp environment were also recreated on a soundstage.

Unfortunately, many of the plants had been grown indoors. Bacteria reportedly spread throughout the artificial swamp, creating unpleasant working conditions at the same time swine flu was already making its way through the production. Several cast and crew members eventually became sick.

Danielle Harris Pushed to Her Limits

The difficult conditions took a particular toll on Danielle Harris. Between the heavy smoke effects, constant exposure to special effects materials, long twelve-hour shooting days, and the physically demanding nature of the role, Harris often found herself completely exhausted.

She later recalled reaching the point where she simply couldn’t continue filming additional takes and occasionally had to wrap for the day because her body had reached its limit.

Building Victor Crowley’s World

Production designer Bryan McBrien returned after earning his first design credit on the original Hatchet. For the sequel, he constructed Victor Crowley’s house entirely from the ground up.

Although much of the swamp environment blended practical locations with stage work, Crowley’s house itself was a fully realized structure that actors could freely move through, helping create a more immersive environment for the cast.

Green also encouraged visual effects artist Robert Pendergraft to become the film’s Practical and Creature Effects Department Head. Initially hesitant, Pendergraft eventually accepted after Green convinced him he was ready for the challenge. The best workspace available for building the film’s elaborate practical gore effects turned out to be… his aunt’s garage.

Green loved the detail because it perfectly reflected the scrappy, do-it-yourself attitude that had always defined the Hatchet series.

The NC-17 Problem

Hatchet II premiered at London’s FrightFest in late August 2010 before receiving its American red carpet premiere one month later at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre.

Securing a theatrical release, however, proved far more difficult than making the movie itself. The Motion Picture Association repeatedly assigned the film an NC-17 rating due to its extreme violence. After learning how much gore would need to be removed to receive an R rating, AMC ultimately agreed to release Hatchet II in its unrated form. That decision made it the first horror film since George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead in 1978 to receive a wide unrated theatrical release.

Green maintained that while the movie was undeniably violent, its gore was intentionally exaggerated and cartoonish. Rather than glorifying suffering, he viewed the film as a tongue-in-cheek response to the so-called “torture porn” movement popularized by movies like Hostel and Saw. He also pointed to audience reactions during screenings in the United Kingdom and Germany, where crowds reportedly laughed, cheered, and treated the outrageous violence as part of the fun.

Unfortunately, ratings boards and theater chains didn’t see it the same way.

Pulled From Theaters

Theaters and ratings boards ultimately disagreed with Adam Green’s approach. Following its opening weekend, Hatchet II was reportedly pulled from most theater schedules by Monday morning.

Similar problems emerged in Canada, where planned October 2010 engagements in Toronto and Montreal were halted after the film failed to receive classification from the provincial ratings boards.

According to reports, theaters were warned they could face fines if they continued screening the film, leading to its removal from those markets as well. +Green found the entire controversy so baffling that the stress reportedly caused him to lose eleven pounds.

Despite those extraordinary release circumstances, Hatchet II still managed respectable business for the kind of release it received. The film opened in just 68 theaters and remained in most of them for only a single weekend, earning roughly $53,000 domestically and nearly $104,000 overseas for a worldwide total of approximately $156,000.

Those numbers would be disastrous for a major studio release. In the context of an unrated independent horror film that effectively disappeared from theaters after one weekend, however, they’re considerably more impressive.

Critics Couldn’t Agree

Critical reception was noticeably weaker than it had been for the original Hatchet, but the sequel still earned praise from some surprisingly prestigious publications, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Hollywood Reporter. Green later admitted those positive reviews genuinely surprised him, noting that low-budget horror films are rarely embraced by mainstream critics.

The film currently holds a 43% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, alongside a slightly lower 36% audience score.

Ironically, the very element that divided audiences also united critics: the gore. Negative reviews frequently criticized the relentless violence as excessive and repetitive, while many of the positive reviews celebrated those exact same qualities as part of the film’s over-the-top appeal. For horror fans, that’s probably the least surprising twist in the entire story.

Redbox Censored the Movie

The home video release came with its own set of challenges. While most retailers carried the Director’s Theatrical Unrated Cut, rental giant Redbox would only distribute a version edited down to what would essentially qualify as an R-rated release. The most significant changes involved several of the movie’s death scenes.

Green understood Dark Sky Films’ decision to create an edited version for Redbox, noting that it wasn’t much different from preparing a television cut. Even so, he felt the censorship went too far and fundamentally changed the tone of the movie.

One example particularly stood out to him. According to Green, Chad’s death scene originally featured roughly 30 hatchet blows to the face. The Redbox version reduced that number to just three.

Green also found the backlash surrounding Hatchet II confusing, especially when films like Alexandre Aja’s The Hills Have Eyes remake and the Piranha remake, both of which he considered even more graphic in different ways, escaped similar levels of controversy.

Keeping Victor Crowley Alive

Fortunately, horror fans showed up. Despite its turbulent theatrical run, Hatchet II performed well enough with its target audience to keep the franchise alive, leading to two additional installments: Hatchet III and Victor Crowley.

So what’s next for everyone’s favorite swamp-dwelling slasher? According to Green, he and his creative team would gladly return to the series under the right circumstances. In 2019, Danielle Harris also discussed the possibility of making two additional sequels.

However, Green has since suggested that any future installments would likely need to happen under new management before the franchise moves forward.

Final Thoughts

Hatchet II may have disgusted and alienated some audiences, but it also delivered exactly what fans of the original wanted.

The sequel doubled down on everything that made Hatchet a cult favorite: outrageous practical gore, memorable kills, colorful horror icons, and a deeper exploration of Victor Crowley’s mythology.

Adam Green’s name appears above the title for good reason. Few modern horror franchises feel as personal to their creator as Hatchet does to him.

Whether you love it or hate it, Hatchet II succeeds at exactly what it set out to do. It expands the legend of Victor Crowley, transforms Marybeth from survivor into hunter, and dismembers bodies with the kind of gleeful excess that only practical-effects horror can deliver.

And that, my friends, is what happened to Adam Green’s Hatchet II.

A couple of previous episodes of this show can be seen below. For more, check out the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel—and don’t forget to subscribe!

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