As he once again clashes with the MPAA over censorship, "Hatchet II" director Adam Green recently talked about his sequel's failed struggle to secure an R rating, and the current state of horror in Hollywood.

Scripted by Green ("Frozen"), "Hatchet II" centers on Marybeth -- now played by Danielle Harris (Rob Zombie's "Halloween 2") -- as she slips from the clutches of supernatural-slasher Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder), and then ruthlessly seeks to end his reign of terror in the Louisiana Bayou.

Battling the MPAA is nothing new for Green, who was initially slapped with an NC-17 rating for the first "Hatchet" before enduring two months of appeals and revisions to land an R rating.

But in a sequel featuring 17 kills, nine more than in the original, the confrontation with the MPAA only escalated. Green is perplexed why films featuring torture porn and rape get a pass, yet his whimsical slasher does not.

"God forbid a swamp monster with a gas-powered belt sander chases a bunch of comedians through a swamp and kills them in 'Monty Python-isc' ways -- that's where we need to draw the line," he said during a panel at Comic-Con International. "We've tried and tried to get an R rating, and it's not possible with this film.

"It's gotten to the point where they are not even just saying shorten the clips, shorten the shots or cut away. They are actually saying you can't do that at all. The whole conception, the whole thing, you can't do that."

However, one major movie theater chain that viewed "Hatchet II" has stepped up to offer the unrated film to their audiences, according to Green. He expects to receive word soon on how many of those theaters will sign aboard.

"That just took a little bit of power from the f------- c---- on the MPAA," he said.

After all, Green's goal with the "Hatchet" franchise was to simply take the slasher formula and make it fun again.

At the same time, he hoped to demonstrate that original features, not remakes, are the lifeblood of the horror genre.

But has Hollywood run out of ideas? Green doesn't believe that's the case. Instead, he points to audiences as a key culprit.

"Why do they remake everything? They remake everything because you keep paying to f------ see it," he said. "So next time a movie like 'Drag Me To Hell' comes out, go see it please ... instead of going to see the remake and complaining about it."

Although more "Hatchet" sequels are likely on the horizon, Green is looking to turn the reins of the franchise over to another director for the third film.

In the meantime, he is preparing his next project with Chris Columbus ("Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone") called "Killer Pizza," a big studio picture in the vein of "Goonies" and "The Monster Squad."

"Hatchet 2" also stars Tom Holland, R.A. Mihailoff, Kathryn Fiore, Parry Shen, Rick McCallum, Ed Ackerman, Colton Dunn, David Foy, Nick Principe and Alexis Peters.