10 Films Directors Wanted You To Hate

Kevin Smith’s body-horror-comedy Tusk started as a prank. Back in 2013, on their podcast, Smith and collaborator Scott Mosier discussed a classified ad offering free room and board to anyone willing to dress up as a walrus full-time. Smith and Mosier proceeded to go off on a long riff about what the possible backstory to this ad could be.

They were so into the over-the-top narrative that they asked their listeners to vote on Twitter whether they should turn the idea into a feature film. The fans voted overwhelmingly in favor, and so Smith and Mossier began fundraising for Tusk. Later, a poet named Chris Parkinson came forward admitting that he had posted the original prank classified ad, and he was rewarded with a producer credit on the film.

The film, about an immature jerk podcaster (where doesSmith get his ideas?) ventures to Manitoba, Canada to interview a retired seaman who lives alone in a mansion. The old man drugs the podcaster and then proceeds to mutilate his body until he has surgically transformed him into a human-walrus. The film is a mixture of stoner comedy and body horror that, despite early buzz, garnered lackluster reception. Oh, and Johnny Depp shows up playing a role based on Inspector Clousea from the Pink Panther series.

Speaking of Depp, his daughter and Kevin Smith’s daughter appear in Tusk as convenience clerks, as the two are friends in real life (which was how Smith was able to cast Depp). Even though Tusk was by no means a success, Smith went on to make a spinoff film starring he and Depp’s daughters called Yoga Hosers. The film was considered even worse than Tusk and many fans and critics called it a low point in Smith’s career.

Both are complete vanity projects, and have been said to be Smith’s response to how loathed he is by critics, especially for 2010’s Cop Out. Smith has even stated that the third act of Yoga Hosers is supposed to be his way of reaching out to the critics who hated his films. For a time having been one of the most promising filmmakers of his generation, directing such films as Clerks, Chasing Amy, and Dogma, Smith now spends most of his time podcasting.

His past few films seem to emanate from the bubble of his own fandom with little to no regard how anyone outside this bubble care about the quality of his films.