Tusk: Kevin Smith

[Spoilers Ahead]

The scene where Michael Parks and Justin Long battle to the death in life-like walrus suits made of what I assume to be human skin should have been the comedic climax of Kevin Smith's Tusk. Most of the film was an audacious blend of horror and humor, charting a hapless podcaster who gets abducted by an insane Canadian and transformed via plastic surgery into a human walrus. I’m honestly not sure if I’ve ever seen a film take a stupid concept so damned seriously. It’s not just that they’re playing this concept straight; it’s treated like a bona fide horror film with many moments of genuine terror (most notably the scene where Parks reveals for the first time that he doesn't need a wheelchair). One scene with Génesis Rodríguez where she confesses to having an affair with Long's best friend via one long close-up plays out like it was ripped straight from a New French Extremity film. But the film in large part ruins itself with the Johnny Depp character, an eccentric ex-cop from Quebec who has spent years hunting Parks. His over-the-top performance ruins the film's joke by revealing that the film itself is aware of it. I wish Smith had gone the Team America: World Police (2004) route and played the entire film straight in spite of its absurd concept. If he had done that, Tusk would probably have been an instant cult classic. I still enjoyed it, though. I just wish that I could have enjoyed it more, y'know?

6/10