HATCHETMAN

The lives of some girls who work as strippers in a nightclub in Los Angeles are disrupted by the presence of a masked serial killer who is killing them one by one. The killer has been nicknamed "Axe Man" by the media, since all the murders are committed with a cutting weapon and both hands are amputated from the victims. The police focus their investigations on finding Daniel Strong, the ex-boyfriend of the first victim, who has just been released from prison, where he ended up precisely because of the testimony of some girls from the nightclub. But is he really the "Axe Man"? Take a serious plot from a violent thriller, add generous doses of female nudity, decent gore scenes, an unlikely masked killer from slasher tradition, and a group of terrible B-movie actors, mix well, and you have served "Body Hunter" the English title for "Hatchetman," a direct-to-video film directed by Robert Tiffi in 2003. The small clues provided might make you think that "Body Hunter" is one of those tasty B-movies that make the happiness of trash lovers, but unfortunately, it is not! We are well into the realm of trash, yes, but it is trash that is not very fun, probably unintentional, despite the intentions that moved Tiffi in the making of this feature film being clearly not to take himself seriously at all. The director is much more interested in showing us nude female bodies rather than giving credibility and a decent development to the story, which is not very original and full of clichés: there is the usual beautiful protagonist who does an uncomfortable job just to earn her bread, but intends to change her life; there is the usual all-in-one policeman intent on capturing the killer for a personal matter; there is a masked assassin (ridiculous look that makes the "Axe Man" one of the most unlucky assassins in cinema history) who acts because of childhood trauma; finally, there are a series of supporting characters with the psychological depth of a noodle inserted only to serve as cannon fodder. The actors are all disarmingly incapable: from Cheryl Renee in the role (scanty) of the protagonist, to Jon Briddell, a macho policeman with an IQ equal to that of a chicken, and various porn stars or playmates in the roles of strippers candidates for victims. Some gore scenes, which include amputated limbs and blood splatters, and dialogues bordering on unintentional parody complete the picture of a film that is simply bad; there are no half measures to define it. Not recommended; only to be seen if you are in the mood for a good laugh with friends, aware that you are about to embark on an act of audiovisual masochism.