Anatomy of a Psycho/Hatchet For the Honeymoon 2001 Horror Movie Review

Here is quite an odd cinematic pairing: Hatchet For the Honeymoon, a classic giallo film from the brilliant director Mario Bava, and Anatomy of a Psycho, a juvenile delinquent film that can in no way be considered horror.  Don’t let any cover illustrations fool you - there is nothing scary, monstrous, or really even entertaining about Anatomy of a Psycho.  It’s a great title for a forgettable movie.  Young Chet swears revenge on all the people he holds responsible for his brother being convicted of murder and put to death; to be quite honest about it, Chet is just as much a worthless hood as his brother was.  The only sympathetic character is the murderers’ sister Pat who tries to stop Chet’s reckless acts of violence and ends up causing further misery to the few normal people in this film that she cares about.  Chet doesn’t exactly cover up his crimes very well, yet the dedicated, hard-working cop has a heck of a time pinning anything on him.  The whole thing boils down to a potentially good ending that winds up being rather silly and over-acted.

Hatchet For the Honeymoon is quite a different story.  This is a low-budget Spanish-Italian giallo film directed by Mario Bava, the master of the genre.  Bava films have a rich and distinctive atmosphere all their own, combining brilliant cinematography with lush visual effects and an intensive musical soundtrack that could conceivably carry the film on their very own.  Throw in a delightfully droll, cold-blooded performance by Stephen Forsyth as the self-acclaimed madman who feels the need to slay new brides on their wedding nights, the dramatic accomplishments of Laura Betti as an unhappy and oh-so-vindictive wife, and the exotic charm and grace of the gorgeous Dagmar Lassander and you’ve got yourself a movie you can enjoy time and time again. 

If you absolutely, positively have to have Anatomy of a Psycho (if such a thing is even possible), you’ll be getting a terrific bonus in Hatchet For the Honeymoon if you buy this movie combo.  If you want Hatchet For the Honeymoon (and I highly recommend this movie), you might as well get this combo and get a little (very little) more bang for your buck with an extra film that is not bad but is certainly not very good.  Either way, you come out a winner.