Hobo With A Shotgun
Stars: Rutget Hauer, Molly Dunsworth
Director: Jason Eisener
2011
I can think of no better way to start the new year than with a depraved gutbucket comedy, especially one that supplies laughs and disgust in amounts not seen since the mid-80s glory days of Troma. Rutger Hauer is the titular armed bum, who goes all vigilante in a town full of druggies and crooked cops, all run by a goofball mob boss and his two psychopathic sons. Shot in a lurid, oversaturated Kodachrome, there’s enough garish colour splashed across the screen to fill two more Joel Schumacher Batman films (I wouldn’t put it past Hollywood), and serves to emphasise the general cartoon feel. Levels of gore here are off the map, and hilarious. There are lawnmower limb removals, flamethrower massacres, human pinatas, decapitations, castrations and more twelve-gauge thoracic surgery than you can shake a shitty stick at. Something for the whole family – if your last name is Manson. The script and continuity are a total shambles, overflowing with hyperbole, goofs and plain old impossible “what the fuck?”s but in a film of this particular type it doesn’t matter in the slightest. The scriptwriter redeems himself with a plethora of insults, vile come-ons and other assorted off-colour lines that amused this reviewer greatly. The set designers also supply some immature graffiti on background walls, so keep an eye open. Hauer isn’t exactly pushing himself here – his role only calls for two emotions, vacancy and rage – but it’s good to see him back on screen again. In the role of the standard hooker with a heart of gold, Molly Dunsworth is an absolute babe and gets involved in the violent mayhem like a trooper. By the end of the film she’s so coated in splatter she looks like a human toffee apple. mmmmmm…
8/10
