Hobo With A Shotgun

HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN

Written by John Davies, Jason Eisener

Directed by Jason Eisener

Starring Rutger Hauer, Molly Dunsworth, Brian Downey

Scroll back up and re-read the title of the film.

You sure as hell couldn't accuse the producers of Hobo With A Shotgun of false advertising. You get what you pay for, and if your idea of fun is watching horror veteran Rutger Hauer blast away baddies in the most splatterific exploitation-style ninety minutes available, then it's money well spent.

The hobo arrives in the time-honoured traditional train carriage, into a city run by vicious showman Drake (Brian Downey) and his gang. Violence, rape and theft are rampant, and the cops are just as guilty as everyone else. The hobo is tired, and has a simple choice to make - buy a lawnmower and live the American dream, or buy a shotgun and get to cleaning the streets.

Guess what he chooses?

The result of a gag trailer made to support the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double bill Grindhouse (which never got a release in Australia as a cohesive whole), Hobo lives up to its predecessors with true excessive delight. Blood sprays torrentially, guts and limbs fly everywhere, and swearing appears more often in a sentence than not. Boobs, sexism and extremity are the rule rather than the exception. No one is safe, not even children, what with a pedophile Santa and a truly sadistic gang member (Gregory Smith) being among their persecutors. No taboo is too taboo for Jason Eisener, it would seem.

It's also very funny. If you can get past hearing 'whore' every five minutes or the constant threat of rape to the central character, there's a truly sick but lively sense of humour that pulsates through the entire film. Everything has a disgusting ludicracy to it that makes even the most horrific of bodily mutilations elicit a chuckle. If you are faint of heart, or not into exploitation, you'd have to be completely crazy to watch this.

Hauer is the horrific, magnetic centrepiece in this foul display - alternately lovable and just plain psycho, he makes a convincing point for vigilantism in a world gone mad. He's as crazy as anyone else, but at least he's the only one on screen not trying to murder, molest or commit both to Molly Dunsworth's Abby, the beacon of light who bizarrely knows how to arc weld despite her job as a prostitute. Downey's key villain is a little too painted to read as funny, but he passes the time when the abominable Slick (Smith) is offscreen.

Surreal, blown-out colouring is used to immerse the audience in the poorly shot grindhouse frame of mind, and it works. At numerous points the cinematography really captures the eye, and then it's back to more intense gore for a while. Each murderous sequence rolls fluidly on with an amusing synth soundtrack that adds another heavy dose of humour to the mix.

It will probably shock you, or at the very least make you feel guilty for liking it so much. Eisener would revel in your discomfort, and you should too. This is a sick, twisted, deplorable, morbid thrill to watch, and more than just "so bad it's good".

Hop in - you're riding shotgun.