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| Director: Jason Eisener (2011) |
Until I watched Hobo with a shotgun, I had
never seen a Grindhouse film before. I really didn’t see the point; to me all
they seemed to consist of is ridiculous dialogue and gratuitous violence. About
30 minutes into this film, directed by Jason Eisener, it hit me. These films
are ridiculous and cheesy because they're supposed to be, and this outlandish
style is what makes Hobo with a Shotgun an outrageous amount of fun.
Rutger Hauer is the hobo of the title,
fresh off of the train in a new city, looking for a new start. He aims to
collect enough cash to buy a lawnmower, wanting to start his own business and
leave his days of being a bum behind him. After witnessing a beheading in the
street, numerous muggings, abductions and robberies, he takes a stand; the 50
dollars he saved up for the lawnmower going on a second hand shotgun instead.
Teaming up with a hooker with a heart of gold, our homeless hero aims to take
back the city from the evil Drake (Brian Downey) and his 2 sons, Slick (Gregory
Smith) and Ivan (Nick Bateman).
Hobo with a Shotgun is unapologetically
violent for the majority of its duration, with blood spilt by the bucket load.
While seeing someone’s chest get ventilated by shrapnel should be almost
traumatising, Eisener has done a sublime job of making us loathe the villains
of the piece. Complete with sharp suits and slicked back hair, our antagonists
aren’t designed to be serious characters, rather moustache twirling caricatures.
Secondary antagonists (paedophile Santa’s, corrupt cops and snuff film
directors) are more traditionally evil, a choice that allows for us to revel in
their always gruesome, never merciful demise. One scene does take things a
little too far though, and as much as I do hate children, seeing a bus full of them
getting set on fire with a flamethrower is a bit too much.
Throughout, Hobo with a Shotgun leaves its
tongue firmly in its cheek, never attempting to take itself seriously. Every
line that Hauer spews is cheesy and gruff, yet he is a likeable protagonist,
albeit a one dimensional creation. The hammy dialogue is infused into the
villains too, with side splitting phrases such as “I'm gonna wash away my
blood... with your blood!”
and “When
life gives you razor blades, you make a baseball bat... with razor blades”.
This silly tone is represented by Karim Hussain’s solid cinematography,
complete with dramatic use of zoom and a garish colour palette. Many scenes are
bathed in pastel colours, blues, greens and reds almost dominate the entire
film. Whites are overexposed and shadows and night time scenes feature crush
and banding artefacts. Hobo with a shotgun was in fact shot on a Red Epic
camera and was heavily altered in post processing to apply a harsh gritty tone
to the images, adding heavily to the films style.
Hobo with a Shotgun was never intended to be a
serious experience. The story revolves around a homeless man slaughtering bad
guys and never attempts to become any more complex than that. In all honesty,
it’s not a particularly good film either, with Eisener more interested in corny
jokes and gratuitous bloodshed than any shape of development. But Hobo with a
Shotgun is surprising in a way; a film that's so bad it’s good.
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