Hobo With a Shotgun: Jason Eisener

I was not prepared for this film.  Going into it, I expected a blood and gore fest along the lines of Planet Terror and Machete, both of which were released under the Grindhouse label.  I was not surprised to find that it is easily one of the most graphically and gleefully violent films ever to have a mainstream release.  But I didn't expect to find a film that contained genuine craftsmanship.  Many people dismissed Hobo with a Shotgun as violent fluff.  Which, admittedly, it is.  But look closer...there are some really amazing things going on in this film.  Key among them is the lead performance by the legendary Rutger Hauer as the hobo.  He drifts into the inappropriately named Hope Town with dreams of starting a lawnmowing business. What he finds is that the town in ruled by a psychotic megalomaniac and his two sons.  Are they landlords?  Drug dealers?  I guess it doesn't matter.  They kill anyone who gets in their way.  With the help of a local prostitute, the hobo begins to clean up the town just as the tagline advertises: one shell at a time.  I was taken aback by Hauer's devastatingly tragic performance.  The hobo isn't just a mass murderer: he's an actual character.  There are times when Hauer transcends the confines of the film's genre and delivers something heartbreakingly beautiful.  Is this film violent and over the top?  Of course...but only when it chooses to be.  See, here's the thing...it doesn't rely on gore and violence as a crutch to support the whole film.  That is what lesser filmmakers.  Somehow, the creators of this film managed to make the violence secondary to the intense character drama.  It isn't violent because it has to be.  It's violent because it wants to be.  This film isn't for everyone.  I wasn't kidding when I described how violent it was.  It may be one of the top three most violent films I've ever seen, right up there with Saving Private Ryan and a few notorious Italian exploitation films.  But to those with a strong stomach: give this movie a try.  I guarantee that you'll be surprised.

8/10