Sydney 2011 Review: HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN
rating: 4
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Hobo With A Shotgun has all the hallmarks of an unapologetically sleazy vigilante thriller that is akin to the likes of Street Trash and Death Wish. But instead of Vic Noto or Charles Bronson at the helm we have cult favourite nutcase Rutger Hauer. The esteemed Dutchman has had an interesting, if somewhat unfulfilled, career giving nevertheless memorably menacing performances in the likes of Blade Runner and The Hitcher, not forgetting early credits which harkens back to pre-Hollywood Paul Verhoeven (Turkish Delight, Soldier of Orange) and forward to appearances in big budget blockbuster fare such as Batman Begins and Sin City. In the lead role of a homeless grunt with a grudge to bare, Hauer is splendidly re-affirmed - riding into Hope Town on a freight train, his weather-beaten features dominating the Technicolor widescreen in close up as he chomps on a harmonica and manically screws his face up, while 70s style titles and music punctuate his arrival. It's clear from the outset what debutant director Jason Eisner has in store: a mythical love letter to those seedy Grindhouse films of yesteryear dressed up as a quasi-spaghetti western. Hobo evolved from a phoney trailer included on the (Canadian only) release of Tarantino's Grindhouse (the second to do so following last year's disappointing Machete) and Eisner certainly doesn't skimp on the blood-drenched heritage of that era. In fact he surpasses them; from aloof decapitations, to showgirls dancing in blood showers and leg crossing dismemberment, Hobo has more than enough to make torture porn pioneer Eli Roth blush with envy. Colourful, broadly painted antagonists populate the scenery from a maniacal underworld crime family to a detestable thoroughly corrupt police force - this is Skid Row at its most debauched - a thieving, corrupt hellhole where crazed sadist loonies get off on filming tramps undertake self-harming acts of torture for money and girls bask in the gory blood-soaked violence. Hobo has had enough of it all and instead of using his fistful of dimes on a prized lawnmower he purchases a shotgun with the intent of cleaning up the lawless hellhole.