Review of Tusk (2014) by Leon B — 03 Jul 2015

Review:

What a strange but original movie! Justin Long plays a cocky podcaster who goes to Canada to interview a boy who chops of his leg on YouTube by mistake. When he reaches his destination, he ends up interviewing a mysterious man after finding a letter that was left in a bar toilet. The guy has all of these wonderful stories about his past but all is not what it seems. He takes Justin Long as his hostage and he converts his body into a walrus after several operations and mental torture. His girlfriend and best friend start to question his disappearance and they go on the hunt to save there best friend, with the help of a private investigator who has been investigating the disappearance of other people. Personally I found the movie quite disturbing because of the graphic walrus transformation and the mental pressure on Longs character. I liked the PI who took on the case to find there friend because he brought some humour to the extremely dark project. I thought that it was a walrus suit that could have been taken off but there was obviously more to transformation than I thought. Justin Long and Michael Parks made this warped storyline feel quite realistic which was why it was hard to watch in parts. I'm basically in two minds about this film because it's intriguing and mysterious in one hand but disturbing and graphic in another. Based on my assumptions, it's worth a watch just to get another opinion on this Fly type movie. Weird but watchable, if you can stomach it!

Round-Up:

This is a different direction for Kevin Smith who usually makes comedies like the awful Cop Out, the Jay and Silent Bob franchise, Zack and Mary Make A Porno, Dogma and the Clerks franchise. He does have a warped sense of humour so I'm sure that there was a weird reason why he made this film. He's a man that doesn't have any boundaries, like with the subject matter in Dogma but I still found this movie quite shocking in parts. Justin Long has had a up and down career which has seemed to have slowed down at the moment. Although Die Hard 4.0 wasn't that great, he did have a major role next to Bruce Willis, which should have pushed his career to new heights after starring in over 60 movies. He's another person which is mostly known for his comedic roles in movies like Funny People, Dodgeball, Galaxy Quest and the Break-Up so I don't know if he would have been my first choice for this film. That's not to say that he didn't do a good job but judging by the box office takings, it might have been taken more seriously if it had a major star playing the lead. .

Budget: $3million.

Worldwide Gross: $2million.

I recommend this movie to people who are into their disturbing horror/thriller movies about a man who takes a promising podcaster hostage to convert him into a walrus. 4/10.