Many fans, including everyone at the office today, were bewildered as to why Adam Green's HATCHET II was pulled so abruptly from its limited theatrical release via the AMC movie chain. All across the US and Canada the chain slowly started pulling the plug on the unrated slasher film with word coming today that it was officially banned from theaters...

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Speculation is running wild as to what the cause was. This was the largest release of an unrated film in 25 years. IT caused quite a lot of buzz when it was announced the film would take an "unrated" moniker rather than being chopped and edited down to fit in the R movie standards that the MPAA demand. Members of the horror community, including us, loved the idea of being able to see the movie as the director intended. Unfortunately it appears that this may have been the reason for its demise.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly earlier Green had this to say about the abrupt end to theatrical release, “I assume it probably had something to do with the controversy online about an unrated movie playing in theaters,”e director. “To me, the whole thing is unfortunate because this is not a movie that deserves to be unrated. It’s a very funny, silly slasher movie about a swamp ghost that’s killing people in ridiculous ways. And now it’s become, you know, ‘Banned from cinemas.’ I’ve lost 11 pounds in the last week from stress.”

Green goes on to say that he is not at all disappointed with the turnout for the film, “It’s an unrated cult movie that didn’t have (television) commercials and all those other things,' he says. “I don’t see them pulling a movie on Sunday because it doesn’t look like the box office is going to blow people away.

Even though HATCHET II may not get the long life he was hoping for on the big screen the director is positive the film will be more than accepted on DVD and Bl-ray." The good thing is that the biggest audience for this movie—because it was for the first one—is going to with on demand and DVD,” he says. “I know that [Hatchet 2 distribution company] Dark Skies, in light of it being pulled prematurely, is going to do everything they can to get it to the fans as fast as they can. And that’s exciting. I don’t really make hardcore movies. I’m doing a kids movie next! Hopefully, this is the last time I’m ever even going to deal with something like this.”

Does this mean the end of the Victor Crowley? We hope the answer to the question is no but time will tell. No one wanted to see this happen. It's a shame that, what was such a fun movie, couldn't have been seen by more on the big screen. The great thing is the aftermarket is where this will shine. It's a must watch film for any horror fan. Stay tuned later today as we expect a full press release courtesy of AMC theaters.

Source: EW