Review of Hobo with a Shotgun (2011) by Chris D — 06 Jun 2012

Half of me is surprised this movie wasn't produced by Troma. The other half is surprised it wasn't produced by Quentin Tarantino. But man am I glad someone did produce it, because they generally don't make them like this anymore.

Basically, you probably already know if this is your kind of movie or not, based on the title. But in case you've never run into a film like this, I'll spell it out: "Hobo With a Shotgun" is (nearly) an hour and a half of vulgar, gory, grindhouse fun. There's nothing deep or complex here (unless you really stretch things), but there doesn't need to be. All this film tries to be is a simple story about a homeless man who gets fed up with the dark underbelly of society and decides to clean up the streets he calls home, forcibly and with extreme prejudice. Everything here is so far over the top, you'd need binoculars to truly appreciate the heights to which it goes. From the villains, the gore (some of which is rather squirm-worthy), the violence, to the overall scenario, it's hard to take much of this seriously. But that's okay, because the point here is to revel in the excess which, in all honesty, is quite creatively done at times (never thought I'd see a noose gun, that's for sure).

I'm not really sure what else to say. Hell, I started out this review by mentioning Troma, so that alone should give you an idea of what kind of film "Hobo With a Shotgun" is. Base your interest accordingly.