Hatchet: Victor Crowley’s Origin & Powers Explained

Victor Crowley, the Hatchet franchise’s resident swamp slasher, is one of horror’s most brutal villains, and here’s a look at what makes him tick. When Hatchet, from writer/director Adam Green, was initially being marketed, it was pushed as being “old-school American horror,” and noted for not being a remake, a sequel, or an English-language redo of a foreign film. To an certain extent, Hatchet was indeed those things, although one shouldn’t put a huge amount of stock in Hatchet‘s originality, as it certainly takes a lot of cues from the slasher movies of the past.

Still, Hatchet was a big success for everyone involved, including actor Kane Hodder, who found in Victor Crowley his best role since playing Jason Voorhees. Victor would return in three sequels to date, and it would be surprising if a Hatchet 5 never materialized at some point, especially since the fourth entry ended with an obvious sequel hook. If he does come back to claim more victims though, fans certainly won’t mind, as for a slasher fan, Victor makes for a top-shelf killer.

Victor Crowley kills his victims with absolute remorseless savagery, and often leaves them literally half the people they used to be. But why does he do this? As with most slasher icons, Victor sports a dark, sad backstory.

Hatchet: Victor Crowley’s Origin & Powers Explained

According to the legends told in the Hatchet films, Victor Crowley came into the world doomed, thanks to his father Thomas conceiving him with his dying wife’s live-in nurse. Before she passed, the woman cursed Victor, and sure enough, he was born with a disfiguring disease that caused horrifying tumors on his face. Victor’s mother Leena died during childbirth, and years later, a now adult Victor ended up trapped inside when a Halloween prank went wrong and his house caught on fire. Thomas returned home, but accidentally killed his son while using a hatchet to break down the door. Thomas died a decade later, saddened that his son never received justice.

Victor’s spirit was unable to rest, however, and he’s been trapped in the night he died ever since, screaming for his father, and viciously murdering anyone who dares enter New Orleans’ Honey Island Swamp after dark. In practice, Victor Crowley is nearly impossible to defeat, and may in fact be impossible to kill permanently. He’s strong enough to rip a person apart with his bare hands, is basically impervious to conventional weaponry, and nearly invulnerable overall. Even when he appears to have died, Victor essentially “respawns” back at his house, due to being a ghost already. He’s seemingly defeated in all four Hatchet movies, but always comes back for another sequel, and presumably will again if Hatchet 5 ever gets made.

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