Movies
‘Hatchet 2’ Picked Up By Dark Sky Films, Plans to Build Franchise!
Some major breaking news just hit our inbox as Dark Sky Films, a leading independent producer and distributor, today announced it has taken on Adam Green’s highly anticipated Hatchet 2, and will help transform the property into a multi-release franchise! The movie, which has just begun shooting in LA, brings back Kane Hodder as the villainous Victor Crowley, who terrorized the bayou in 2007’s groundbreaking “Hatchet.” Joining Hodder in the cast are Danielle Harris (Halloween IV, V), Tony Todd (Candyman) and Tom Holland (Child’s Play). Anchor Bay released the first film. Read on for more and talk about it below.
Dark Sky Films has partnered with ArieScope Pictures, the company behind Hatchet, Grace and Green’s upcoming Frozen which will premiere in this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Writer-director Adam Green says: “Victor Crowley has been in my head since I was a kid so, the first movie was really 20 years in the making and a love letter to the films I grew up watching. ‘Hatchet 2’ is a gift to the fans for their loyalty.”
ArieScope Pictures producer Cory Neal says: “Hatchet became a phenomenon and a success beyond anything we ever dreamed. So, when gearing up for the sequel we needed to do it right. We needed a company that understood and valued our goals and ambitions. Dark Sky recognizes how big this franchise will be and how far it can go.”
Adam Green added, “Once `Hatchet’ became a success, a lot of doors opened. We met with all sorts of companies, both on the studio and independent levels. For the most part, our projects have worked better outside of the studio system. Dark Sky Films was a company with not only experience, but the hunger, ambition and strategy we need to grow.”
Greg Newman, executive vice president Dark Sky Films says: “We are thrilled to be a part of the `Hatchet’ franchise. In Victor Crowley, Adam Green has developed an enduring character that will continue to wreak havoc for years to come. Green is among the most talented filmmakers working in the genre and most importantly, he listens to his audience and understands how to make films that surpass their very high expectations. HATCHET 2 will deliver the goods.”
Neal added: “We are thrilled with this marriage and are ecstatic about the opportunities that await. This partnership with Dark Sky looks very promising because they aren’t just about playing it safe. You can see they aren’t afraid to embrace all aspects of the genre.”
Adds Dark Sky Film’s Newman, “From Ti West’s `The House of the Devil,’ to an ambitious slate of films currently in production with the great Larry Fessenden and his team at Glass Eye Pix, Dark Sky Films is committed to bringing the best independent horror films to fans worldwide.”
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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