Hatchet for the Honeymoon

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Shawan L @ShawanLLibang Jan 20 Hatchet for the Honeymoon plays like a polished, moody piece of giallo that elevates a basic slasher premise into something far more refined. Mario Bava’s striking lighting, surreal flourishes, and drifting, dreamlike rhythm give the film a distinctive elegance and an eerie allure that sets it apart from its peers. See more Dave S @RT68722908 05/21/2025 Thirty years before American Psycho’s Patrick Bateman hit the big screen, there was John Harrington (played by Stephen Forsythe, a Clint Eastwood look-a-like who quickly faded into obscurity), an intelligent and impeccably well-dressed serial killer with a penchant for taking a meat cleaver (not a hatchet) to sparkling new brides. Mario Bava’s Hatchet for a Honeymoon is another in the line of Bava’s films that failed to live up to the success of his earlier films, most notably Black Sunday and Black Sabbath. It’s got a nice color palette going for it, but the quality is downhill from there thanks to an inconsistent score, some weird and ineffective directorial decisions, lots of bad dubbing, and plenty of awkward dialogue (“a woman should only live to her wedding, love once, and then die”), which seems a bit harsh, even by serial killer standards. See more laurent b @RT95576478 07/29/2019 Nice cinematography. But a rather dull script, and my god, the dialogues are so poor. Nevertheless a movie to watch if you like Mario Bava or horror flicks. It still is a classical despite its defects. A very poor budget explains also a lot why it's not so bad as if it had been directed by someone else. See more 07/31/2017 Hatchet for the Honeymoon is somewhat different compared to Bava's other movies and is one of his most accessible films. Hatchet handles a more common horror theme (namely a serial killer and his motivations) but in the very first place it is another Bava-omnibus of stylish direction, wonderful music, beautiful scenery and a unique, tense atmosphere. I find it remarkable how this director is able to portray such ugly things (murder, insanity, aggression) in an artistic, beautiful way. Also, the film is far ahead of its time with the portrayal of a horrible murderer as a classy and intelligent businessman. It's largely American Psycho from a few decades earlier. See more 02/05/2016 http://letterboxd.com/zbender/film/hatchet-for-the-honeymoon/ What happens when Norman Bates, Patrick Bateman, and Frank Zito (from the film Maniac) get together for a one night stand? You get a bastard love child in John Harrington. John is a little screwy in the head. When not running a fashion company, he's wielding the cleanest lookin cleaver and unleashing on various women. The hokey acting never really got me in the mood of "this is horrific," but the camerawork was work I marveled at. The music accompanying was soothing to the ear, but didn't leaving me shaking in my boots. The voiceover, and John's rationalization of the utter terror of his willingness to kill is intriguing. As a whole, it doesn't come off as impressive, but all the giallo elements along with the other technical aspects I mentioned this comes across as a quick, tidy, and entertaining watch. See more Will L @SavageOtterPaws 01/14/2016 Mario Bava's darkly funny 'Hatchet For the Honeymoon' is an entertaining psychological thriller that adds a few unique little twists to the genre. It's one of Bava's less grandiose efforts, but that's not to say it isn't plenty of fun. The acting is enjoyably hammy, and the film looks great. See more Read all reviews

Hatchet for the Honeymoon

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