A weary and disillusioned nameless hobo (Rutger Hauer in terrific two-fisted form) arrives in a grim and corrupt crime-ridden city in which chaos and brutality reign supreme. Disgusted with the horrific carnage that's happening all around him, the hobo gets himself a shotgun so he can clean up the streets.
Director Jason Eisner, working from a tight and blithely trashy script by John Davies, delivers oodles of savage violence and gloriously outrageous excessive gore, adroitly crafts a gleefully no-holds-barred gritty'n'grimy tone, astutely captures the raw energy and lowdown scuzzy vibe of vintage late 70's/early 80's urban exploitation fare, stages the rousing action sequences with rip-snorting brio, and keeps the wildly entertaining story hurtling along at a brisk pace. Eisner deserves extra praise for thankfully eschewing wink wink, nudge nudge smugly self-impressed film nerd hipster posturing in favor of a more straightforward and unpretentious pulpy sensibility that hits the ground running and never lets up for a minute. Moreover, it's acted with zest by an enthusiastic cast: Molly Dunsworth provides plenty of spark as spunky hooker Abby, Brian Downey robustly overplays the juicy role of vicious ringleader Drake with lip-smacking wicked aplomb, and Gregory Smith and Nick Bateman are perfectly slimy and hateful as Drake's sadistic sons. The tender relationship between Abby and the hobo provides a few surprisingly touching moments of real heart and warmth. Karim Hussain's vibrant widescreen cinematography gives this picture a lurid neon look. The funky-throbbing score hits the right-on groovy spot. A total blast.
Hobo with a Shotgun
2011
Action / Comedy / Horror / Thriller
Hobo with a Shotgun
2011
Action / Comedy / Horror / Thriller
Plot summary
A vigilante homeless man pulls into a new city and finds himself trapped in urban chaos, a city where crime rules and where the city's crime boss reigns. Seeing an urban landscape filled with armed robbers, corrupt cops, abused prostitutes, and even a pedophile Santa, the Hobo (Rutger Hauer) goes about bringing justice to the city the best way he knows how - with a 20-gauge shotgun. Mayhem ensues when he tries to make things better for the future generation. Street justice will indeed prevail.
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The hobo has come to restore law and order
Fun camp for a little while
Hobo (Rutger Hauer) rides the rails to a new ugly urban landscape looking to buy a lawnmower. Drake and his sons rule the neighborhood with an iron fist. Slick (Gregory Smith) is one of the cruel vicious sons who has an eye for prostitute Abby (Molly Dunsworth). As Slick is about to kidnap Abby, Hobo comes along to rescue her and bringing him to the cops. Only the corrupt cops have other ideas.
Starting from the fun title, this is deliberate camp. One has to submit to the cheesy ridiculousness. Rutger Hauer is perfect for the lead. Gregory Smith is pathetic as the heavy. This is fun for a little while but it gets a bit boring. It would be fun as something a little shorter and a lot more sharper. It feels like no more than a lower rank TV production.
Maim, torture and death
When Tarantino and Rodriguez got together to make the Grindhouse films as a tribute to the exploitation flicks of the 1970s, there were some fake trailers and this was one of them along with Machete.
Both have gone to become theatrical features.
Rutger Hauer plays a drifter that comes to a bad town (known as Scum Town) with bad people (The Drake and his two sons),even the cops are dirty.
After a lifetime of bumming around he is inspired to become the lawnmower man. Do not knock it, I once saw a violent Abel Ferrara film where the kingpin played by Christopher Walken just wanted to build a hospital.
Whereas in Grindhouse, the Tarantino section was dragged down with women talking and more talking as Tarantino wanted to show he could write dialogue for females. Hobo with a Shotgun has no such pretensions.
It is back to basic exploitation, shootings, decapitations, torture, beatings even a bus full of kids getting flamed. The blood pours like cheap wine after a Superbowl victory.
It is down and dirty, if you are squeamish stay away.
Rutger Hauer is perfect casting as the Hobo, the man who could not just turn the other cheek, maybe not the brightest guy about, maybe even delusional. He is ably supported by Molly Dunsworth as the gutsy Abby who helps out the Hobo.
Brian Downey is eerie enough as the bad guy Drake and as for the Plague, they sure are related to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.