Tusk Review

After multiple patrons and listeners requested, we sat down and watched Tusk on Netflix. We regretted our decision. This film is all blubber and no craft. Kevin Smith proves his limitations with this failure of a body horror film. In this Tusk Review episode we break down what went wrong and what went right with the execution. Tusk Poster Also, the face I would make if I was forced to watch this movie again. Tusk Trailer https://youtu.be/BCQJnOn0ru0 Tusk Official HD Trailer Tusk Movie Synopsis This horror movie is brought to you by the same guy that brought you Yoga Hosers and Cop Out. He now brings you a body horror movie based on a joke craigslist personal ad. In Tusk, Justin Long, plays Walrus, I mean Wallace Bryton, who runs a podcast with friend Teddy Craft (Haley Joel Osmond). Their podcast is mostly based off of making fun of internet cringe videos, and as such, Wallace flies to Canada to interview this movie universes equivalent of the Star Wars kid. Watch TuskTusk Full MovieClick to Watch Tusk When Wallace arrives, he finds out that unfortunately, his interviewee has killed himself. Desperate to find material for their upcoming episode, Wallace then discovers a bizarre personal ad in the bathroom stall of a bar. He goes to meet an enigmatic retired seaman named Howard Howe played by Michael Parks. Mr Howard tells tale of his adventures at sea and of a particular shipwreck where he was miraculously saved by a passing walrus. Before long, Wallace finds himself drugged and captive to Howard's twisted plot to recreate his walrus savior at Wallace’s expense.  Short Review of Tusk Sound interesting? It’s not. Tusk is what you get when you make a movie based on a joke. The premise is entertaining enough for a fake trailer, but not a feature length film, and definitely not with Smith at the helm. I expected a lot more, but the commitment and budget did not pull off the intense and twisted body horror tale necessary to hold my attention. It was shot in 15 days with $3 million and it somehow feels more rushed and cheaper than that. Check Out Our Review of IT (2017) https://www.horrormovietalk.com/2019/09/04/it-2017-review/ Instead of focusing on the dread of slowly being turned into a Walrus, Smith focused on creating a panoply of redundant characters delivering redundant dialogue at length. For a body horror film, there is very little care given to the design and shooting of the actual body horror. Smith blows his load halfway through the film and really has nowhere to go after that. Score for Tusk Movie 2/10 Origin of the Idea of Tusk The movie is based on a fake ad from Chris Parkinson from Brighton, England. He offered free rent to anyone willing to dress in a walrus suit and pretend to be the animal for two hours a day. The advert was a hoax, but after Smith discussed it on his Smodcast podcast with co-host Scott Mosier, he began to think about mull the idea of turning it into a feature film. “Something snapped in my brain, and it’s only happened one other time in my life.” That other time was 20 years ago, when “I wondered why people didn’t make movies about me and my friends talking about movies and pussy and ‘Star Wars.’ So I did, and it was ‘Clerks,’” Smith said. The Good Elements of Tusk Michael Parks is undeniably, a great actor, and he gets to display his talents well in this movie. Kevin Smith states that he wrote the film specifically for Parks, and wouldn't make it without him. My favorite moments in the film were him doing a little delighted dance watching his victim, and him yelling ferociously as a whining Justin Long. Spoilers for Tusk Expand for Tusk Spoilers The first thing you need to know about this film is that director Kevin Smith is a bullshitter, and he writes like a bullshitter. All of his characters sound like bullshitters, and it’s bullshit. Much of this film is taken up with repetitive dialogue and unnecessary exposition. Kevin Smith's Failures The direction on this film is truly terrible. Arbitrary flashbacks, forecasted super obvious plot twists, and terrible pacing marred the movie. But the real tragedy is the fundamental misunderstanding about what makes a body horror film work: dread, and disgust. Check Out Our Review of Ready or Not https://www.horrormovietalk.com/2019/08/28/ready-or-not-review/ In terms of storytelling. the movie blows its load way too early. No care is given to extending out the dread or body transformation. The main spoiler of the film is that Howard Howe surgically transforms Wallace into a Walrus. The Walrus-Man Reveal The reveal is terrible. It looks so much worse than I expected. If you were to imagine in your mind a human surgically turned into a walrus, take that idea, but then think of what a cosplayer of that idea at a Topeka, Kansas comi-con would look like. That's along the lines of what the walrus-man looks like. Parks and Long sharing a moment of regret for appearing in Tusk. Smith made the worst possible decision, and decided to show the Walrus in flat medium to wide shots for the rest of the film. There it is, in all it's... glory. A note to future budget filmmakers: if you have a terrible cheap looking monster design, go the Jaws route and don’t show it. Mocking Canadians. Lamely Instead, what Smith focused his story on is lame humor mocking Canadians. Remember that Canadians say "aboot" and "eh"? Well, too bad, Kevin Smith is going to remind you how hilarious that is for an hour and 45 minutes. Johnny Depp is in this film, and exercises a ridiculous, yet still unfunny French Canadian accent. The beret is a subtle touch. The only real reason that Johnny is in this movie is because his daughter along with Smith's daughter play clerks in a Canadian mini mart. One of the most interesting scenes is probably the one where Depp and Parks play opposite each other and compete to see how much of the scenery each of them can eat. https://youtu.be/NPJPphUnM58 Again... subtle. The ending features a fight to the death between Howard Howe in a Walrus suit and Wallace as the transformed Walrus monstrosity. Long wins. Who cares? In the epilogue, Wallace is shown being visited by his former girlfriend and former podcast co-host who then toss him a fish to eat. Final Recommendations I can't in good conscience recommend this movie. It is streaming on Netflix right now, so if you already have a subscription, you could watch it for free. However, you could save a lot of time by just fast forwarding to the scene where Wallace meets Howard, and the scene with the transformation reveal. Everything else is unfunny blubber. Horror Movie News Netflix released a trailer for “Netflix and Chills”, a special Halloween season release schedule of four original horror movies In the Shadow of the Moon (9/27) In the Tall Grass (10/4) Fractured (10/11) Eli (10/18) Rattlesnake (10/25) They are also advertising a special URL that will land you on all of Netflix’s horror offerings: https://www.netflix.com/netflixandchills https://youtu.be/cRYKd8GWB9A Synapse Films Bringing Dario Argento’s ‘Suspiria’ to 4K Ultra HD on November 19, 2019 the release will feature the company’s exclusive 4K restoration of the “uncut, uncensored Italian 35mm camera negative, with color correction supervised and approved by cinematographer Luciano Tovoli and presented in true 2160p.” The must-own release will also feature “an all-new Dolby Atmos audio remix.” Special Features will include: Two audio commentaries by authors and Argento scholars Derek Botelho, David Del Valle and Troy Howarth “Do You Know Anything About Witches?”: 30-minute SUSPIRIA visual essay written, edited and narrated by Michael Mackenzie “Suzy in Nazi Germany”: Featurette on the German locations from SUSPIRIA “A Sigh from the Depths: 40 Years of SUSPIRIA”: All-new anniversary retrospective on the making of the film and its influence on cinema “Olga’s Story”: Interview with star Barbara Magnolfi Original theatrical trailers, TV spots and radio spots International Classics’ English “Breathing Letters” opening credit sequence from the U.S. release John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween’ Returning to Select Theaters Beginning September 27th The restored and remastered digital print was created under the supervision of the world-renowned cinematographer, Dean Cundey. Get tickets at: https://www.cinelifeentertainment.com/event/halloween/ Brendan Fraser Is “All In” for a New ‘Mummy’ Movie Should the Opportunity Present Itself Hollywood collectively replies: yeah… we know Shudder Released a Trailer for their original film “Blood Machines” https://youtu.be/jLHhr8Xc4AM Andy Muschietti Details Two Deleted Scenes That Would Be Part of Potential Supercut of Both ‘IT’ Movies Amanda Seyfried in Talks to Star in Netflix Horror Thriller 'Things Heard & Seen' Toni Collette Joins the Cast of Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Nightmare Alley’ MoviePass Shuts Down, With Parent Company Citing Failure to Raise Funds Full Transcript of This Episode Expand for Full Transcript of HMT Episode 63: Tusk Review this episode of horror movie talk brought to you by your wife's moisturizer. You're a man, so you don't care about soft skin. But you also want to do unspeakable things with those sandpaper textured hands. 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