About
Justin Long, Michael Parks, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez, Johnny Depp
Director: Kevin Smith
“A brash and arrogant podcaster gets more than he bargained for when he travels to Canada to interview a mysterious recluse… who has a rather disturbing fondness for walruses.” (IMDb)
»Currently streaming on Netflix«
What to Expect
I Am the Walrus…Coo Coo Cachoo
Human Centipede redux
Name puns
Why You Should Watch It
Tusk is a tongue-in-cheek horror film birthed from the mind of Kevin Smith in the same way Pegasus was birthed from the severed head of Medusa. That is to say, something odd and beautiful has managed to come out of something so strange and disturbing. This outrageous satire retains the plot of a typical horror movie while at the same time giving the audience a sly wink and a nudge to remind them that they have permission to laugh along at its stereotypes. And surprisingly, the acting is wonderful and gives a more profound layer to this film that never tried having layers to begin with.
Meh…(D)
The Spoilers
I usually like to pull up a trailer to decide whether or not a potentially weird film is worth a watch, but Justin Long and a succinct tagline made me jump headfirst into this absurd movie. I had the whole plot figured out in the first few minutes, and mentally prepared myself for the very real possibility that sleep would overtake me before the denouement did, but I found myself pleasantly entertained throughout.
Don’t get me wrong. Tusk is r i d i c u l o u s. The entire movie was pitched from Kevin Smith’s podcast episode where they found a British man advertising free rent in exchange for the tenant dressing up as a walrus every day. A project like this isn’t exactly asking the Academy for its consideration. And the scenes with Justin as a walrus were so outrageously stupid I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or start watching Arrested Development instead. Yet there were elements that pulled me along with the plot, such as the lyrical musings of Howe (Park), or the curious resemblance Guy Lapointe bears with Johnny Depp (and how when Haley Joel Osment looks concerned you can totally see him about to tell Bruce Willis that he sees dead people). It also helps a lot that the movie leans more on being a comedy than serious horror. As explained in the original podcast, it’s a Human Centipede that’s actually watchable.