Review of Razorback (1984) by Tommy H — 15 Oct 2014

Not really much of a horror movie and more of a thriller, drama. Kind of at least. It follows a man as he searches for answers to the disappearance of his wife and it leads to all kinds of confusion with the outback, razorbacks, and some crazy Aussies.

The razorback itself looks pretty neat, but most of the time it's cut away from quickly, shown only briefly in glimpses or in the dark. It looked like it was probably a really neat animatronic/puppet, but it wasn't shown too much. I would compare it to something like An American Werewolf in London where the werewolf is briefly, almost never shown in full.

The action is good when it happens and shot well. This movie has a cult following and b-movie reputation, but the direction would have you thinking this is a much larger budget Hollywood movie from the 80s. It's not something one would expect from an Australian production and it's probably the best looking Australian movie I've seen outside of The Road Warrior.

The acting is pretty good at times, but over-the-top at other moments. Though, the Aussies who attempt to rape the reporter are depicted rather despicably, even if they ham it up at times. So I suppose it was appropriate enough.

No real complaints about this movie, other than maybe a lack of razorback kills. We get two early on, but then the razorback only kills two more people throughout the rest of the film and they happen very late. It's just a bit slow to get going, especially when our main character isn't even introduced until about 25 minutes into the movie.

Overall, enjoyable movie that is worth checking out for fans of horror movies where nature attacks. This has to be mandatory viewing for those fans.