Skip to main content

Tusk (2014) - Kevin Smith


Definitely the most original and outrageous horror movie of 2014 is Kevin Smith's Tusk. This film is the product of the Hollywood Babble-On Podcast that is hosted by Smith and Ralph Garmin. They had literally just tossed the idea around and then, poof! It was made into a movie starring Justin Long, Haley Joel Osment, and Michael Parks. I will admit that when I started watching Tusk I expected to see something in the same vein as The Human Centipede. I expected to sit cringing through the whole feature. However, the end product was a bit disappointing and highly confusing.

This movie is about a podcaster, Wallace (Long), that travels to weird places and interviews weird people. He then, usually, returns to his best friend (Osment) and recants his entire trip while his friend laughs about it. The podcast is un-inspiringly called the Not See Party. Get it. Wallace heads to Canada to interview this Kill Bill kid that had cut his leg off. Only to find out that the kid had killed himself. Scrambling for a story he finds a letter from a crazy old man that is obsessed with walruses. Eventually the old man tricks Wallace and turns him into a half walrus half man. 

The horror starts to take a similar form. It starts to feel a bit Tom Six inspired and it nearly goes down the Human Centipede route but veers off into obscurity. Tusk starts to become a cluster-fudge about 1/3rd of the way into the film. It goes into areas that don't necessarily need to be explored. It feels like it's missing something. Johnny Depp makes an appearance but it feels like his cameo is quickly forgotten. It's like all of these characters are just elaborate frameworks of what real people should be. 


The movie isn't all bad. I love this nu-horror mad scientist genre. It is definitely a Body Horror film that does wonders for gore hounds and makes for an interesting tale. It's funny. I enjoy Justin Long's role. He was just the right kind of jackass. His back story was just... slapped together. It was interesting seeing Osment in his role. All in all, this movie is mediocre yet really original. I am curious to see where Kevin Smith can take this "Great North Trilogy"


 Director: Kevin Smith
Country: USA
Style: Body Horror 

 Did ya know...
 It was named the first runner-up to the Midnight Madness People's Choice Award.* Quentin Tarantino was offered the role of Guy Lapointe, but turned it down saying he dug the script and "couldn't wait to watch Michael Parks let loose his internal Kraken," but he had no interest in acting at the moment.* Kevin Smith and Johnny Depp's daughters play clerks. Clerks. (1994) launched Kevin Smith's career as a movie director and script writer.*


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ju-On (2000) - Takashi Shimizu

Watching Japanese horror is similar to watching British comedy. If you enjoy dry whit then you probably enjoy the boys of Monty Python in drag. That's the joke, they're dressed like women. Get it? Well, that's British humor. But if you're like most Americans you probably prefer Adam Sandler farting his way across a football field and hooking up with chicks that are way out of his league. Americans usually prefer this more in your face, crass brand of humor. My point is funny in England is different from funny in the US. The same goes for J-Horror. What the Japanese consider scary is very different from what Americans consider scary and it shows in this horror film. Japanese horror is generally slow (a little too slow sometimes), suspenseful and creepy. Ju-On is a creepy effing film. The movie has almost no soundtrack. It is incredibly suspenseful and the pay-offs are pretty awesome, but I think that it was done better in the American version (cultural t...
Post a Comment
Not scared yet? »

Sleepy Hollow (1999) - Tim Burton

Tim Burton's take on the old Sleepy Hollow tale is really interesting. He adds his own flair of course. He delves very deeply into the original story by Washington Irving. The casting is usual for Burton. Johnny Depp of course in your lead. Helena Bonham Carter, thrown in for some flavor. The score is done by Danny Elfman. It's literally just the Ichabod Crane story run through the Tim Burton machine. But in a good way. Sleepy Hollow has a problem with a guy, running around, taking people's heads. Like, a lot of people. The town sends word for assistance and the nervous  Constable Ichabod Crane reports. He starts to unravel clues that take him down an incredibly strange path. With the Horseman still murdering patrons, Crane tries finding who's next before they lose their head.  I've always been a big fan of the Disney cartoon,  The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad . This movie is a far cry from Bing Crosby and quaint animations....
Post a Comment
Not scared yet? »

Escape From Tomorrow (2013) - Randy Moore

This review may contain spoilers. An American independent horror movie from filmmaker Randy Moore. It stars Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Jack Dalton, Annet Mahendru, and Alison Lees-Taylor. It premiered at the official selection of Roger Ebert, at the Sundance Film Festival on January 18th, 2013. Synopsis Jim is a depressed middle-aged man that despises his family life but wants to try to hold it together for a vacation to the Walt Disney World Resort. Jim receives a call before they leave and, unfortunately, Jim has lost his job as well. It proves too much to handle as this trip to the Magic Kingdom becomes a hellish nightmare. Jim’s mind cracks as we watch him deal with Disney’s seedy underbelly. Complete with elaborate corporate conspiracy, undercover sex workers, and demons. Oh and two very young French girls that Jim lusts over. It’s gross. Analysis The acting is amateurish. It’s nothing that’s going to win any awards or anything. The wri...
Post a Comment
Not scared yet? »