Hobo with a Shotgun (2011) Review

“Hobo with a Shotgun” International Theatrical Poster

Director: Jason Eisener
Writer: John Davies
Cast: Rutger Hauer, Gregory Smith, Molly Dunsworth, Brian Downey, Robb Wells, Nick Bateman, Peter Simas, Jeremy Akerman
Running Time: 86 min.

By HKFanatic

One thing you can’t accuse “Hobo With a Shotgun” of is false advertising. No matter what happens during its unrated, 86-minute runtime, you will witness a shotgun-wielding hobo. The film’s content may shock and appall the religious right or anyone with a weak stomach, but if you pulled up your lawnchair to watch Rutger Hauer blast people to bits with a pump-action shotgun then you will get what you came for.

Beyond that, I can’t really say if this film met my expectations or not. This is basically a Troma movie like “The Toxic Avenger” except with Rutger Hauer in the lead role. It’s got that sadistic streak to its funnybone, maybe a bit like the original “Death Race 2000,” that involves homeless people and children slaughtered for pure shock value. I suppose what “Hobo With a Shotgun” is missing is the sense of fun inherent in those films. Instead this just felt mean-spirited and depraved for the hell of it.

The gore is plentiful and holds nothing back, like Takashi Miike in his direct-to-video days. The script is a series of brain-dead one-liners and sexually explicit dialogue, like “I just love the smell of your asshole” and “The only thing I’m gonna let slide, is my dick and your pussy.” Most of the characters act in a hyper-exaggerated, cartoon sort of way, like Biff from “Back to the Future” on steroids.

In other words, I get the feeling that this movie might have been unwatchable without Rutger Hauer. But he’s in it and he’s so damn good. Where else are you going to see the man given some decent monologues to deliver at his age? I’m not sure if he’s acting broken-down and weary because he’s getting in to his hobo character or because he has to be in a movie like this, but whenever he’s onscreen you can’t take your eyes off him. He plays the whole movie straight, without a trace of irony or winking at the camera, and even manages to sell all of his corny, hobo-related one-liners (“I’m gonna sleep in your bloody carcasses tonight!”).

I agree with Ningen’s critique that his voice is kind of low and hard to hear at times, which might be the result of bad mic-ing, but if you can hear him Rutger manages to take mundane dialogue and make it seem like poetry. From “Blade Runner” to “The Hitcher” to now, the man just has this otherworldly quality that makes him immensely watchable. It’s damn good to have him back even if he’s stuck in a rather thankless role in a “grindhouse” flick when he deserves something as meaty as a Colonel Hans Landa in “Inglorious Basterds.”

“Hobo Without a Shotgun” is not without its highlights. The score is frequently fantastic, with bubbling 80’s synthesizers and gated drums that will remind you of your favorite ratty VHS tapes. A pair of villains are introduced late in the film, known as The Plague, and they’re about as gleefully over the top as you could hope for in a flick like this. Dressed head to toe in a cross between medieval armor and bondage gear, they stalk the halls of a hospital and slaughter people in a highly efficient manner. Later on, a wall of portraits reveals their past executions and the list includes Jesus Christ, Joan of Arc, and the Easter Bunny. Word has it that writer/director/editor Jason Eisener is planning a spin-off film devoted exclusively to The Plague. Now that I would genuinely be interested in.

Maybe this sounds silly considering it’s called “Hobo With a Shotgun” but I think I was hoping for more more heart to this film. The movie presents a city so infested with murder, sexual torture, child molesters, and street gangs that it’s beyond redemption, and then plays everything for laughs – you have to wonder where the entertainment value is supposed to come from. Yeah, it’s great to see Rutger Hauer cleaning up the streets but here he’s clearly fighting a losing battle – against crime, and in trying to give a respectable performance in the film.

HKFanatic’s Rating: 6.5/10

By Ningen

Rutger Hauer plays a traveling bum who wanders into a really bad neighborhood which has degenerated into a community of people too desensitized or corrupt to clean it up. Hauer’s character is only really interested in owning a lawn mower, but is forced to buy a shotgun and rid the city of the criminal elements when they push him too far. But the only help he can count on is the support of a sympathetic prostitute named Abby. Does he have a chance against the kingpin, Drake?

Hobo with a Shotgun is clearly for people who grew up on 70s and 80s grindhouse tough-guy films in which the good and bad guys were clearly defined, but not as much as the gore. This director really knows his “testosterone-sploitation” flicks, as you can see homages to movies as varied as Ricki Oh (where both characters are forced to eat broken glass) and The Toxic Avenger. Hell, even the music is retro, with frequent 80s syth-inspired tracks playing in the background. Plus, they still shoot videos on VHS tapes and drive DeLoreans in this “world”.

However, Hobo is not as “R-rated friendly” as its predecessors, as it goes in directions with its violence which you won’t believe they’d allow. It’s not as gory as you think, though it does deliver in that area. Rather, it intentionally screws with your preconceived notions of who lives and dies in these types of movies.

As for Hauer himself, he’s likeable, but either his accent or the ADR hurt the delivery of his lines. The audio occasionally lacks in terms of balance. But that just makes me wonder if they weren’t intentionally going that way to remind people of older films on tape which did not have good recordings.

The action itself is brutal, but not so disgusting that you can’t keep your lunch down. Though your mileage may vary on violent content. The main villains could use more work in terms of standing out better, but the actors do a good enough job of making you despise their characters. The story’s short and simple, so people tired of having to sit through “action” movies padded out at 2-3 hours with only about 15 minutes of actual combat will be overjoyed at being remembered again. I’d say the only thing the film lacks is the cheap and gratuitous sexual thrills which made these things a staple of the b-movie circuit. I know seeing “Grandpa” Rutger score would turn off a lot of people, but at least they can give us some non-Hobo softcore porn.

Still, all in all, Hobo’s a great reminder of what action movies used to be like before they became focused on pointless details like characterization: Gritty, not afraid to pull punches, and dealing with situations outside of the Internet. It won’t win any Oscars, but it does serve its purpose.

Ningen’s Rating: “Holy shit, they did not just go there!” moments: 10/10 Actual fights: 8/10 Memorable baddass ranking: 7.5/10 Overall satisfaction: 8/10