Movies
‘Hatchet’ Camerman Gets Directing Opportunity on ‘Hatchet 3’
BJ McDonnell, who as cameraman helped make Hatchet and Hatchet II two of the most effective slasher films of recent years, will make his directorial debut on Hatchet 3.
The long-awaited announcement was made today by franchise creator Adam Green. Green, who wrote and directed the first two films in the series, and whom will work closely with McDonnell on all aspects of the production.
Hatchet 3 will continue where the story left off in Hatchet 2, as a young woman sought revenge on the malevolent monster that killed her family while they were fishing in Louisiana swamp country.
Hatchet 3 is a co-production of ArieScope Pictures and Dark Sky Films, a subsidiary of MPI Media Group.
The movie will continue the story of fearsome villain Victor Crowley, the iconic killer who first made his gruesome mark in 2007’s groundbreaking Hatchet. Green’s Hatchet II made headlines as the first unrated independent horror film to be exhibited by a major chain (AMC Theatres) in more than 25 years when it opened last fall and went on to become a best selling DVD and On-Demand title. With cast and other production details to be announced shortly, Hatchet 3 will continue where Hatchet 2 left off, as a young woman sought revenge on the malevolent monster that killed her family while they were fishing in Louisiana swamp country.
Over the last decade, BJ McDonnell has been the camera operator on major Hollywood blockbusters and independent productions, including Battle Los Angeles, Rob Zombie’s Halloween, MacGruber, Spiral, TV’s “Heroes” The Darkest Hour, Director William Friedkins Killer Joe and he is currently in Pittsburgh shooting One Shot starring Tom Cruise.
McDonnell said, “I’ve been with the ‘Hatchet’ team from the very beginning and am honored and thrilled that Adam has handed me the reins on this third movie. I grew up watching horror films and like Adam Green, I’m a true genre fan at heart. I have been waiting for an opportunity like this to step up and make my directorial debut with something I love and know inside and out. Working together with Adam, we plan to make a kick ass movie!”
Adam Green said, “BJ was not only the camera operator on the first two ‘Hatchet’ movies. He was there alongside me creating every shot, working closely with me to craft each scene, moment, outrageous kill, and performance. He is absolutely beloved by the entire ‘Hatchet’ family and his experience on everything from huge studio films to smaller independent productions will ensure that he will do the franchise proud.”
In addition to the Hatchet films, ArieScope’s other productions include Frozen, Spiral and Grace. MPI/Dark Sky Films has produced and distributed such popular genre titles as The House of the Devil, Stake Land and The Innkeepers and the upcoming Frankenstein’s Army.
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
Adam Simon (The Haunting in Connecticut, “Salem”) and Tim Metcalfe (The Haunting in Connecticut, Kalifornia) penned the script. The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallace.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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