Why do you go to the movies?
Is it to be moved? Is it to be entertained? Is it both? Is it to watch mindless trash? An interesting question when given the current state of cinema. Last weekend a film like Fast 5 smashed April box office records and was actually praised by critics for being a top notch action film. Now, I'm not here to tell you what to purchase your ticket for the next time you enter the cineplex. However, if that ticket isn't for Hobo with a Shotgun....then, I'm here to tell you that you lose in life.
Hobo with a Shotgun is probably the best current example of why I go to the movies. It's a film packed tightly with everything you would want in an over-the-top throwback exploitation film. Now...I'm not saying that Hobo with a Shotgun will be a top contender for the Oscars next year. But, the film is not meant for that...or for critical response...or any of that usual movie bullshit. It is a film that captures the essence of the midnight movie and it is meant for that audience searching for something that will overload the senses in a hyper kinetic explosion of celluloid. Nothing here is for the timid. In fact if you are reading this and you couldn't get past Machete...then, you should probably just move along to something more safe like the Fast 5 movie.
Hobo with a Shotgun will literally blow you away. Directed by the brave Jason Eisener, it will take everything you know to be sacred in film and throw all of that out of the proverbial fucking window...because, nothing in Hobo is sacred...or safe, for that matter.
The legendary Rutger Hauer plays the Hobo. I said somewhere else that I could watch a film of this guy providing the finer points of lawn care and I would still be mesmerized. Well...that's not entirely true....I could watch 60 minutes of this guy staring into a camera and still be entertained. I've always loved Hauer's work...even though, sometimes, his work was the only good thing in the projects he was involved in. Rutger Hauer is fucking awesome. To watch him dispatch a bunch of evil caricatures as a homeless guy with a pocket full of shells is absolute pure cinematic solid gold. I can probably die now.
Hobo with a Shotgun isn't particularly a perfectly executed film...it has it's many flaws. But, these are flaws more in the sense of a badass sculpture with rough edges around it. While it may look cleaner when it's smoothed out....we'd be missing the point of everything. These are necessary flaws. It is not a perfect film...and that's what gives Hobo its many unbridled charms.
The feel of the film is classic Troma...the kind of dark humor you would find in something like Class of Nuke 'Em High...or The Toxic Avenger. But, it's all played with a certain straight-faced Charles Bronson-esque type of danger to it...with a dry kind of wit splashed in for good measure. There's a scene where the Hobo confronts the director of Bumfights that is played straight...but, is absolute hilarity and yet...very poignant. And while there are moments of the film that tend to move the viewer...this isn't the film's main intent. It's more interested in shocking you with a torched school bus.
The basic premise of Hobo with a Shotgun opens with our hero riding the rails into FuckedUpville, USA...where he tries his damnedest to mind his own business. All he wants is to scrape a little cash together to buy a lawnmower and open up a lawn care business...until he is met with a desperately violent situation. Then, the savage bear in him comes out. He opts for the shotgun instead of the lawnmower...and the fun begins.
I love Hobo with a Shotgun. Absolutely fucking love it. If I could adopt any film that truly embodies the soul of Film Deviant....this would be that film.
Molly Dunsworth plays Abby...the whore-turned-vigilante sidekick who aids the Hobo in his quest for justice. While she's pretty damn hot in the film...her performance isn't all that particularly memorable. Brian Downey is pretty memorable. But, that's only because he plays despicable with an eerie delight. His character, Drake, is one of those cinematic presences that truly gets under your skin....and as soon as he is introduced, you seriously can't wait for this fucker to suffer a painful death at the hand of Hobo. But, as much as I talk about the performances...it's all really Hauer's show. He's the guy you came to see.
Everything about the film is pure unrestrained exploitation fun....delivered on a gory platter. It's for the unabashed lover of vintage bloody cinema at its best. Goddamn it...just go watch Hobo with a Shotgun as soon as you possibly can. It's fucking awesome!
I'm not going to rate this film...because it defies a rating system. You just have to simply see it for yourself to believe me.
Recommendation: DO NOT MISS THIS FILM.
Trailer...
Trailer...
Thanks for reading,
bryan.
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