cult film freak: HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN

Written by James M. Tate / 10/01/2011 / No comments / action , exploitation , rutger hauer , tens

HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN

10/01/2011 | No comment

title: HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN
year: 2011
cast: Rutger Hauer, Brian Downey, Gregory Smith, Molly Dunsworth
rating: ***1/2

Every once in a while a movie comes out that, to use a clichéd term, pushes the envelope. Well this one signs, seals and delivers blood and guts like it’s nothing doing. But it's quite the chore for the antihero protagonist, a train-hopping hobo who winds up in a small town that makes Sergio Leone’s vilest villas seem like Walnut Grove. While some of the dialog is banally beyond imagination, especially spouted by the intentionally cartoonish villains – a reckless mobster and his two sons – the circumstances leading to each new action scene provides the audience with something to gain or lose. But it’s when Hobo meets a heart of gold hooker – who gives him shelter after he’s beaten by thugs and a sadistic “Bum Fights” director before wielding his titular weapon of choice – that the movie provides heart to the ultra violent bedlam. Reminiscent of exploitation flicks made by Roger Corman, Troma, and Bloody Sam Peckinpah, this overboard odyssey is so drenched in violence it all seems commonplace. Yet the plight of our hero, striving to keep the hooker alive while gunning down all wrongdoers – and eventually centering on the mobster’s favorite son who has no restrictions on murder – never loses a tight grip on the handle. Star Rutger Hauer, iconic for villainous roles in NIGHTHAWKS, THE HITCHER, and BLADE RUNNER, has aged into a gruff, no-nonsense tough guy with a tattered past hemmed into a timeworn countenance.

Share This Post :

Tags : action , exploitation , rutger hauer , tens

James M. Tate

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)THE FEARMAKERS 2)JAWS 3)THE CROWDED SKY 4)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 5)ANATOMY OF A MURDER 6)HOT CARS 7)CANYON PASSAGE 8)VIOLENT SATURDAY 9)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE 10)HARDCORE 11)CURSE OF THE DEMON 12)THE SYSTEM 13)SHARKS' TREASURE 14)ROYAL FLASH 15)DUEL IN THE JUNGLE 16)FALLEN ANGEL 17)ASH WEDNESDAY 18)THE ROARING TWENTIES 19)SWEENEY TWO 20)THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN 21)THE DEFECTOR 22)OTLEY 23)AL CAPONE 24)THE ASPHALT JUNGLE 25)AIR PATROL 26)KILLER FISH 27)COMPULSION 28)WHITE HEAT 29)EASY LIVING 30)WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS 31)ATLANTIC CITY 32)FRENZY 33)JUNGLE STREET 34)MADISON AVENUE 35)THE SHARKFIGHTERS 36)DEMETRIUS AND THE GLADIATORS 37)MY BLOOD RUNS COLD 38)THE LINEUP 39)SWAMP WATER 40)THE DAY THEY ROBBED THE BANK OF ENGLAND 41)RUMBLE FISH 42)HOTEL 43)THE HEARSE 44)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 45)CORVETTE SUMMER 46)THE DRIVER 47)THE SERGEANT 48)HOUSE OF STRANGERS 49)ODD MAN OUT 50)FORCE TEN FROM NARAVONE 51)BULLITT 52)ROBBERY 53)THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE 54)KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE 55)CANYON RIVER 56)THE BREAK 57)THE KILLING 58)BRANNIGAN 59)THE STONE KILLER 60)BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA

ACTORS 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)MARLON BRANDO 4)JACK NICHOLSON 5)ORSON WELLES 6)PETER O'TOOLE 7)TOM COURTENAY 8)CHARLES BRONSON 9)GENE HACKMAN 10)VICTOR MATURE ACTRESSES 1)VIRGINIA MAYO 2)SUE LYON 3)GENE TIERNEY 4)MERRY ANDERS 5)FAYE DUNAWAY DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)STANLEY KUBRICK 4)ORSON WELLES 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)JOHN CARPENTER 7)MAURY DEXTER 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)MICHAEL WINNER 10)SAM PECKINPAH