So out of nowhere I was told to watch a movie called 'Tusk'. What is 'Tusk'? Well, it's a horror, black comedy movie directed by Kevin Smith. Yes, the same Kevin Smith that brought us Clerks and Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Both hilarious movies! So what is Kevin Smith doing making a horror movie about a man who's surgically turned into a walrus by a psycho?
Yeah, I don't know either. It was a weird fucking movie, but at the same time, I'm sort of glad I watched it.
As mentioned before, The plot of Tusk is quite basic, almost like a parody of the horror genre or even the sub genre of 'Creature Feature'. It's about a psycho who's obsessed with Walruses, so much so that he creates a Walrus suit out of human skin and tries to turn a human INTO a Walrus.
Yes, you read that right. I kind of want to see the shit that Kevin Smith was smoking for this movie, because no one with a sober mind would be able to think about this kind of plot.
Hell, I'm even having trouble trying to think of a way to critique this film. It's definitely different to what I'm used to. In a world where Hollywood films are very generic, formulaic, and ultimately safe, 'Tusk' comes out of nowhere and hit me in the face like a wet fish.
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| Seriously though...what....the fuck |
THE GOOD
So let's start with the positives.
'Tusk' has that classic Kevin Smith comedy all over it. The Canadian jokes, the over exaggerated accent of the Quebecois detective, the general concept itself is pure entertainment. I genuinely had a good time laughing at both regular and black comedy, I was entertained. I was also strangely intrigued by the villain and his obsession with creating a Walrus/Human hybrid. In a sense, the movie does a great job leaving pretty much a ton of things up to your imagination. How was that Walrus suit constructed? where did all that skin come from? How many failed 'Walruses' were there before the events of this movie and why the HELL is the villain doing what he's doing? It's all gloriously...disturbing and grotesque. Something most horror films are missing nowadays, where they believe that successful terror comes from revealing everything in your face.
I also appreciated some of the performances from Michael Parks and Johnny Depp, genuinely decent acting that held my interest long enough. Michael Parks plays the psychopathic Howard Howe (if that's his real name) who came off as incredibly creepy and menacing. Johnny Depp plays the Quebecois detective Guy Lapointe, who was genuinely funny and a great satirical caricature of Quebec in general. I fanything, Depp delivered the best performance in the movie and stole the show. I didn't even recognize it was him in the first place, where most of the time you can TELL when Depp is playing a character. However, these two also have a major fault with the movie which I will go into detail later.
Another thing that I enjoyed with Tusk is...well...the ridiculousness of it all. I enjoyed that I was watching so bad that it was good. I enjoyed the fact that, in a long time, I've vocally laughed while saying 'What the fuck?!'. I enjoyed the completely insane plot that came out of the movie. In a sense, while the plot of the film was so god damned stupid and so god damned ridiculous, I actually had some fun with it. Perhaps it was because of it's ridiculous plot that I enjoyed the comedy. The Walrus suit that you eventually see was so...out there that it was genuinely hilarious. I didn't expect myself to laugh so hard at that stuff, but it was just so pure and an obvious attempt at making a 'serious' situation funny. Hell, even serious monologues given by the villain were generally quite funny. "Is man...really a Walrus?" had me laughing hard because of how crazy it sounded.
THE BAD
Now with the negatives. And this is where the fun begins!
'Tusk' is by no means a good movie. Don't let my praise of it's ridiculousness fool you. If you're a casual movie goer or someone who just doesn't like horror or black comedy, you're not going to find ANYTHING to love here. The ridiculous plot is both it's strongest feature and also it's weakest. Many times I felt like the entire concept was so dumb that I just couldn't see myself recommend it to anyone I know. No one would want to watch it! I mean, how would you react if I told you it was about someone wanting to turn someone else into a walrus? You wouldn't react positively. You'd probably spit on me after I told you to watch it with me just to see your reaction. If anything, it's more of a shock value film akin to Human Centipede.
I also mentioned how I enjoyed the acting of Johnny Depp and Michael Parks, well...yeah I did. I thought they carried their characters well and did what they were meant to do...however each scene they appeared in dragged on for far too long. There were at least 3 scenes that I can think of that I wish would have ended. My interest started to wane as Detective Lapointe was droning on and on, trying to tell a story that would move the plot along, but it just went nowhere. If anything, they could have cut a ton of content out of these scenes to keep interest levels at a bearable level.
I'm also going to criticize the overall cinematography of the film. There wasn't anything visually pleasing about the movie, it was all very bland and forgettable. There were many times that the scenes I was watching just bored me because of how visually unpleasing it was. If anything, I actually enjoyed seeing the grotesque walrus suit (despite how disgusting it was) more than any of the other scenes. The only way I can explain that is that, out of everything else, the Walrus suit was at least original and creative.
THE UGLY
Tusk is...weird. It's just a weird fucking movie. It's so weird that I don't know if I'm being fair criticizing it the way I am. I mean, I was entertained enough to sit through it and watch it, but I was also pretty annoyed I was watching the movie. However, I do appreciate the idea that Kevin Smith is sort of branching out and actually doing something different, despite how ridiculous the concept is.
Now, I don't know much about his creative decisions behind this movie, but some short research time later, it's been pointed out to me that Kevin Smith only made Tusk for the sake of making something super insane. Hell, he's got a trilogy of these films coming out that are all going to focus on the universe surrounding Tusk. The True North Trilogy or something...and...I can't believe I'm saying this...but I may actually watch them...One of them is about Yoga and the other one is going to be Jaws...but with a Moose. I dunno...Perhaps Tusk will have a lasting impression on me, but I can't place my finger on whether or not it's a bad influence or a good one. I want to say that Tusk was a 'so good it's bad' movie, but that would imply that anyone who loves those kinds of movies would like this one too.
Honestly, I can't recommend Tusk to anyone. UNLESS You're the kind that's incredibly open minded with strange concepts and understand black humour. On top of that, you have to have a taste for the ridiculous and a desire to be weirded out. If you want to watch a movie that will make you stop and think 'wow, that was some fucked up shit' then Tusk is for you.
VERDICT
If you're the kind of person that really can't stand dumb movies, can't understand black humour, and REALLY can't stand gross visuals in general, then avoid Tusk at all costs. With this in mind, I believe that this movie deserves two separate scores:
2/5 for the general audience who hate ridiculous concepts, off putting humour and grotesque imagery.
3/5 for those who love to watch bad movies because of their ridiculous concepts, enjoy black humour, and genuinely appreciate creature features for what they are. Not art, just pure unadulterated, dumb entertainment.
Tusk isn't a great movie, but it's also not HUGELY terrible. I've seen much much worse. If anything, it's a movie that should exist just because of how ridiculously dumb it is. Hell, the comedy itself was pure and actually quite enjoyable. I know I'll be quoting some of it from now on just to see the reactions from people and to generally annoy some friends.
I'll leave this review with a quote from the late Roger Ebert from his Human Centipede review, which I feel summarizes the way I felt about Tusk perfectly:
"I am required to award stars to movies I review. This time, I refuse to do it. The star rating system is unsuited to this film. Is the movie good? Is it bad? Does it matter? It is what it is and occupies a world where the stars don't shine."
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