Tusk (2014)

Tusk is without a doubt one of the strangest movies I've seen all year. Director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Clerks 2, Chasing Amy, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) helms this uncomfortable horror comedy that is surprising in many more ways than one. Following the surprisingly intense and frightening horror-thriller Red State, Kevin Smith appears to be somewhat smitten with the horror genre or at least some sort of variation on it. Ever since I first heard the premise and saw the trailer for Tusk I knew it was going to be an oddball movie, but I'm not sure much of anything could have prepared me for actually sitting down to watch it. While I think Tusk is wildly entertaining at times as well as quite funny, I think the movie is a sort of mess of different ideas that left me feeling more confused than anything else.

The movie begins with two pod-casters named Wallace and Teddy (played by Justin Long and Haley Joel Osment) being obnoxious and thinking they are just oh-so hilarious while recording an episode of their popular podcast “The Not-See Party”. They are discussing Wallace's upcoming plans to travel to Canada to interview the unfortunate star of an embarrassing viral video and other nonsense that they find humorous (in a uniquely long first scene). Things don't go quite according to plan and Wallace has to find a different person to interview in Canada for the show and ends up finding a flier from a man named Howard Howe (played by an excellent Michael Parks) who promises great stories and adventure for those who come and visit him. Long story short, Howard Howe isn't the quiet mannered man he is pretending to be and is revealed to be obsessed with turning a human being into a walrus that he can keep as his pet... and Wallace basically walked right into this trap to become his walrus. Yup.

That really is only the first half of the movie but I have no idea how I could possibly explain where this film goes. I found it bizarre, oddly funny and slightly disturbing all at the same time. There is a major character that is introduced in the second half of the film that is the most difficult aspect of the film to summarize. The character's name is Guy Lapointe and he is a detective who helps Wallace's friends track down where he might have gone to after he disappears. First of all, I wasn't at all expecting this actor to show up in this film in such a crazy role. Second of all, I was damn happy that he did. I'm sure a lot of people know who I'm talking about, but if you plan on seeing this and don’t know yet just go into it blind and I'm sure you'll be delighted (or confused). It was one of the most surprising “cameos” I've ever seen in a movie (although Guy Lapointe becomes one of the main characters).

So I definitely appreciate the wild, off-kilter story and direction of the movie (as well as Guy Lapointe's character, who is probably the funniest character I've seen in a movie in years) but overall I'm not sure I would describe my experience with Tusk as wholly positive. In a lot of ways this movie feels catered to a certain audience. That is either fans of Kevin Smith's podcast or those people who love stuff like Troma films will absolutely love this. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but Tusk is most certainly going to repulse 80% of the people who see it in many ways. While I'm a big Troma fan and fan of bizarre cinema in general, half of the time I think the blend of horror and comedy in Tusk worked and half of it felt like they were trying to hard. It would be tense and frightening for long periods of time and all of a sudden turn into the most all-out slapstick comedy I've ever seen. At the end of the movie I felt sort of shocked and confused and not completely in a good way. I can't quite put my finger on it but I suppose too many of the horror elements felt cliched or some of the comedy fell flat... but the way they're blended together is unlike anything I've seen.

As you can probably tell at this point, Tusk really threw me off. It's one of the most insane, almost surreal experiences I've had watching a movie all year. While my reaction isn't entirely positive, I have to give Tusk major points for creativity. During a majority of this movie I was confused about exactly what it wanted to be. Was it making fun of horror movies? Was it trying to be a comedy? Is the whole thing just a big joke? Well I'm not really sure and that's why my feelings are mixed. If you want to watch something that is undeniably entertaining but incredibly weird and at times gruesome, Tusk may be just the movie to watch. Try not to spoil too much but definitely watch the trailer to get an idea of what you're getting into.

6.5/10