Review of Tusk (2014) by Austin W — 20 Sep 2014

Tusk works as both a hauntingly grotesque horror film and a thoughtful exploration of contemporary society-things that this generation have brought to existence from the likes of addictive technology to silly podcasts. The film centers on an abhorrently obnoxious and presumptuous twenty-something, named Wallace (Justin Long), who pretty much epitomizes the narcissistic and insensitive youth of our culture. But not only that-it's also about what really separates man from animal; humanity from plain rock and coldness.

Wallace hosts a comedy podcast with a friend (Haley Joel-Osment!), and their interactions/behavior very much resemble Kevin Smith's "broship" with Scott Mosier on their actual podcast (goofily titled "SModcast"), incessantly guffawing and joking around. One day, Long gets the opportunity to interview a one-legged teenager who infamously chopped his own leg off with a samurai sword on accident in what became an incredibly viral Youtube video (totally fictional, by the way). Fundamentally, we have a couple of fame-hungry young adults seizing an opportunity to further popularize their show off of a deathly maimed kid. What's new? Sooner rather than later, our main character meets the pure definition of Karma's wrath when planned business goes awry; he, instead, ends up visiting an eerie, sequestered mansion two hours away from Winnipeg where his worst nightmares become completely realized.

I know this has been said more than a thousand times already, but Tusk is somewhat of a hilarious Human Centipede. It's that rare taste of a shockingly twisted and dark comedy-a daring and uncompromising terror story that's astonishingly uproarious at the same time. You'll lay witness to some of the most disturbing sights you've seen in a long time while guiltily attempting to repress your laughter. This is the exemplar of "twisted" at its finest-characters wailing, weeping, begging for dear life, and suffering through the most agonizing of torture while audiences are in hysterics. What also substantially elevates the hilarity of it all is a really surprising cameo that's easily the funniest part of the entire film.

The very nature of this movie is also an amusing tease throughout in the manner that it's edited and in regards to its camera angle choices, keeping you in apprehensive wonderment as it refrains from revealing any startling details too quickly. Frequently, you will see a look of shock or any other given reaction long before you see what truly stands before the characters.

Now, after I left the theater with satisfaction, I gave SModcast a listen, quickly browsing through the catalog to find the specific episode where this tale was brilliantly envisioned between two jesting buddies in ceaseless cachinnation (Episode #259" The Walrus and The Carpenter). Following the finish of this episode, one can clearly tell that while almost everyone's ready to vomit at the horrific sight on-screen, Kevin Smith is having a field day and breathlessly laughing.

On the other hand, the film can certainly feel, at times, like it's being stretched out, especially concerning the last act. Normally, Kevin Smith's screenplays utterly shine brightest, capturing the compelling essence of conversation like the greatest of screenwriters (think: Quentin Tarantino, Woody Allen, and Richard Linklater), but that sheer ability unfortunately wasn't convincingly showcased in this entry. In fact, many of the conversations/dialogue go on for far too long, and I presume Smith's script just wasn't exceptional enough to engross us through fifteen minutes of anecdotes and aphorisms. Eventually, you just desire for the narrative to finally move along from the transparently prolonged discussion at hand and continue the ghastly tale that we all came to see in the first place.

At the end of the day, you surely won't see anything quite like Tusk, which makes it worth the price of admission alone. Strong performances from Justin Long and Michael Parks (portraying the creepy owner of the mansion), a gradually terrifying plot, and the outlandish humor will ensure that moviegoers won't soon forget how (positively) f*cked-up this picture really is.