Movie Review - Tusk

Tusk (2014)

Starring Michael Parks, Justin Long, Genesis Rodriguez, Haley Joel Osment, and Johnny Depp

Directed by Kevin Smith

***This film is currently streaming on Amazon Prime***

While I've never seen The Human Centipede, I have to imagine that Kevin Smith saw that infamous horror film and figured he could do better.  With Tusk, he attempts the horror-comedy genre after a pretty successful attempt at straight horror with 2011's Red State.  Here, successful L.A.-based podcaster Wallace Bryton (Justin Long) travels to Manitoba, Canada, to interview a YouTube sensation for his show.  Upon arrival, his interviewee has died, leading Wallace to a bar to drown his sorrows where he comes across an ad seemingly written by an old man who has spent his years on the sea with stories to tell searching for someone to rent a room at his house.  Desperate to not return home with nothing, Wallace decides to head two hours away and interview the seafarer.

Upon arrival, Howard Howe (Michael Parks) seems like a hoot of an old man with stories to tell about his time in WWII fighting alongside Ernest Hemingway or the time his ship was all but destroyed leading him to swim to a little spit of land with only a walrus as his companion.  Wallace is certainly intrigued by Howard's stories and the old man confined to a wheelchair seems harmless enough.  However, as Wallace drinks down some tea, he soon discovers that his beverage has been spiked.  When he awakens, Wallace realizes that Howard's time spent with that walrus may have formed a rather disturbing bond for which Howard will stop at nothing to have again.

Michael Parks who was so good in Red State doesn't quite match his performance in his last Smith film, but he certainly gives a valiant effort.  His role here doesn't have nearly the depth of the crazed preacher he inhabited so well before, but Parks can certainly play scary.  Justin Long is playing a bit of a jerk here, but once horrible things start happening to him, his fear is palpable.  The surprise in Tusk is Genesis Rodriguez as Wallace's girlfriend who actually has a few emotional scenes that ring quite true amidst the insanity that is going on around her.  Also, it's nice to see Haley Joel Osment coming back into the movie fray again.

Tusk isn't particularly good filmmaking -- its a bit too wry and self-deprecating for its own good -- but I must admit that I was never bored and I found the whole thing oddly intriguing.  Obviously, writer-director Kevin Smith was going for the absurd and in the film's final act things do begin to shift a little too over the top, but the build-up to that point does surprisingly contain a nice amount of tension.  Still, the tonal imbalances hurt this one a bit as it never quite finds its footing.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Red State

Red State (2011)

Starring Michael Parks, Michael Angarano, Melissa Leo, Kyle Gallner, Kelly Bishé, and John Goodman

Directed by Kevin Smith

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Rather amusingly, the end credits of Red State -- Kevin Smith's horror movie that he distributed on his own after a "fake" attempt at creating a bidding war earlier this year -- separate the cast into three categories -- Sex, Religion, and Politics.  Certainly those are three subjects that are ripe for controversy and debate, and while Smith undoubtedly takes a side on those topics and does so in a not-too-subtle manner, I couldn't help but enjoy myself thoroughly while watching this.  Thanks to some great performances and a running time that moves everything along at an incredibly brisk rate coupled with solid direction and clever (but not his typical raunchy) writing from Mr. Smith, Red State is a surprising winner.

When three high school boys come across a Craig's List-style online ad for an older woman who agrees to sleep with all three of them at once, the licentious trio wants to jump on the opportunity.  Little do they know that they're walking into a trap set up by a David Koresh-like cult leader Abin Cooper (Michael Parks), a man whose group at the beginning of the film is seen picketing a gay teenager's funeral.  (While that is a reprehensible act, I was a tad worried that this "obvious" "He's EVIL" stance was going to prove to be a little too blatant throughout the movie...fortunately, Smith curbed this as the movie progressed.)  The three teens are drugged and awaken in Cooper's church where he spreads (his version of) God's word to his family members who are the only members of his congregation.  In the midst of a rousing sermon, it soon becomes obvious that Cooper has warped the Bible into something decidedly crackpot and all hell is about to break loose.

For reasons I won't divulge in order to try and stay as spoiler-free as possible, the government soon becomes involved in this whole affair and sends out agents to try and take over Cooper's compound.  Headed by Agent Keenan (John Goodman), orders are soon given by his supervisors to do whatever is necessary to bring Cooper and his terroristic organization down.

If one were to step back and look at the grand idea that Smith is trying to convey here, his attacks on religion and our society post-9/11 don't necessarily hold water.  While both are certainly topics that can be critiqued in a film landscape, he doesn't dig deep enough to incite change or cause the viewer to even think about their opinion on the subject.

But if we overlook that (and I choose to because the rest of the film is good enough to do so), Red State is a very suspenseful horror film.  No one is safe and there was many a moment when I was shocked by what was unfolding onscreen.  Yes, there are moments of Smith's trademark humor (including a clever though mildly stupid "twist" towards the end), but the film works because the director has a solid grasp on editing his flick to maximize tension.  

Helping achieve this sense of unease are some wonderful performances.  Michael Angarano and Kyle Gallner as two of the sexually charged teens provide the "Kevin Smith wit" prevalent in his other flicks.  Nice work also comes from John Goodman as the agent who takes a rather moralistic stance against his superiors.  Melissa Leo as one of Cooper's daughters is utterly creepy and Kelly Bishé (with whom I'm completely unfamiliar) is beautiful to look at and does quite a good job as a wavering, questioning member of Cooper's clan.

The star here, though, is Michael Parks as the seemingly pleasant smooth-talking Abin Cooper.  At the beginning of the film, Cooper is given a lengthy monologue that, while could have easily been removed or shortened, brilliantly reveals the true character behind this country preacher.  He's outwardly pleasant yet so incredibly evil and Mr. Parks plays him without ever stooping to cheap tricks.  Cooper is a nut and Parks' evenhanded portrayal of him makes him even more terrifying.

Red State isn't going to be for everyone.  It is quite violent and it's not exactly a pleasant watch (although it's not nearly as graphic as the torture porn horror shlock that was so pervasive in the early aughts).  But it did it's job to keep me on the edge of my seat and that's all I can ask from a movie like this. 

The RyMickey Rating:  B+