Hobo With A Shotgun Review

• 11th Jul 2011

Tell someone that there’s a film called Hobo With A Shotgun coming out and they may smirk dismissively at the ludicrous title. Tell them that Rutger Hauer is in the lead role and you may see their eyes open with glee followed by a prolonged vocal response in full support of the film.

Yes, Rutger Hauer carries a heavy cult weight on his shoulders. He understands the context of the films he’s in, and more often than not manages to raise the bar for a film’s appeal. Hobo is no different. The cast around him are terrible. Some are terrible on purpose – others are just terrible.  The script is terrible. It is terrible on purpose, but some of it is just so terrible it isn’t even funny – it is just uninspired.

Hobo, as many will know started life as a trailer submitted as part of a Grindhouse competition. It almost made it into the fake trailers in the Tarantino/Rodriguez Grindhouse release a few years back (it has made it onto the Blu-ray extras). The response to it (minus Hauer) was so great that they managed to get the ball rolling on a film. And here’s the end product.

Don’t expect this to be a love letter to 70s exploitation. I find that it has more in common with the Troma brand of film-making from the 80s – and even cheap actioners like The Exterminator. Where this film succeeds is that it manages to deliver what it promises on the poster. If you recall the OTT posters from 80s cult films, they often had posters that said more than the film delivered. Like cool looking armoured characters, explosions and women. All too often the film’s poster artwork was a lot better than what was delivered in the end. Hobo puts an end to that by giving you it all. OK, it’s still low budget – but it is done stylishly. The money was spent in the right places.

The plot… well, let’s leave it at a homeless guy arriving via train carriage in “Fuck Town” to discover the streets are overrun with crime, violence and prostitution. After one encounter too many he decides to do something about it. But he soon discovers that doing the right thing leads him into a world of corruption and further violence. After a violent attack he’s at the end of his tether and so becomes the character of the title. And from here onwards it’s a blast!

Don’t even try to figure out what will happen from here as the film takes all kinds of weird turns along the way. Each new character that’s introduced is a bit more preposterous than the last.

The film makes no excuses for vile language and ramped up blood and gore. But, as I said above, the dialogue could have done with a little bit more work. Half the time the puns or swearing just doesn’t come off as clever or funny. But the rest of the time the language used is often grossly hilarious. (I’m still laughing uncomfortably at the paedophile Santa threating to literally come down two small children’s chutes – that’s the level of obscenity here).

Hobo seems to have already attained its cult status even before release. But there’s no mistaking that it is that. Without Hauer at the heart of the film, it could easily have just been a student film with very little control. But as it is, it’s likely to remain a favourite for some time to come.

Steven Hurst