Review of Razorback (1984) by Scott S — 26 Sep 2009

Razorback (1984) -- [6.0] -- A passable midnight horror movie from Russell Mulcahy, who would go on to direct the cult fave "Highlander" a few years later. "Razorback" is about a giant boar that terrorizes the Australian outback.

After an American reporter disappears, her husband (Gregory Harrison) goes down under to investigate. He's aided by an old hunter (Bill Kerr) who has been tracking the big piggy ever since it stole off into the night with his grandson years ago.

As a special effect, the monster swine isn't very successful, but Mulcahy is clever about cutting around it. This is actually a creature feature where the creature isn't the most interesting part.

"Razorback" is atmospheric and imaginitive. Mulcahy turns the outback into a nightmarish landscape where cars hang in trees and horse skeletons litter the ground. He also populates that landscape with some characters that are more frightening than the razorback, namely two inbred brothers who run a meat-packing plant.

The movie only suffers at the climax, where it would have been really, really nice to have had a mechanical monster that worked.