"There's something about blasting the shit out of a razorback that brightens up my whole day." - Jake
A vicious boar terrorizes the Australian outback.
Starring: Gregory Harrison, Bill Kerr, Arkie Whiteley, Judy Morris, David Argue
Link to IMDB
This February is Ozploitation Appreciation month!
I've already seen some of the best and the worst of what Australian exploitation has to offer, but there's plenty more, so everything I'll be covering this month will be from Down Under.
A quick prologue shows us a giant, man-eating razorback attacking the farm of Jake Cullen and killing his young grandson! None of the locals believe Jake's story of this giant boar, and he becomes a social outcast with an Ahab-like vendetta against the monster.
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| Carl |
Things quickly get intense as the Baker bros drive her off the road and into the jaws of that rhino-sized razorback, which eats through Beth's car to kill her!
Umm, 15 minutes in and the main character just got brutally eaten alive. Holy shit.
Luckily, Carl is here to replace her, when he comes to Australia to find his missing wife. He goes to the Baker brothers and poses as a naive tourist to see if they know anything about Beth's disappearance. These two brutes take Carl hunting but soon enough they ditch him in the middle of nowhere.
Now lost, Carl goes on a truly bizarre walkabout as he tries to find civilization, and he's having pig problems of his own with the razorback following him. Things get surreal, and I have no idea if Carl's hallucinogenic pilgrimage is a metaphor or he's just delirious... Deserts, they'll fuck you up, man.
Carl eventually gets rescued by Jake and a woman named Sarah, and together they're they only ones that know the giant razorback is a deadly reality. Carl is intent on ending the Baker hillbillies, and Jake is obsessed with killing the boar, and when these two revenge plots become entangled the razorback proves to be the enemy of everyone.
"God and the Devil couldn't have created a more despicable species." - Jake
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| Beth Jake Sarah |
It's rather difficult to explain just how many random ideas and plot changes are all thrown in here, but the movie might have been stronger if it had a more focused plot.
The few violent scenes are effectively delivered and the final showdown with the boar is intense fun, but most of the movie stays far away from being a traditional monster-movie and instead is more of a wacky survival adventure on the edge of civilization.
While the boar takes a backseat to most of the story, at least the beast looks realistic and the threat of it being a mythical force creates a sense of doom. It's just too bad that most of the killings and gore seems to exist only in outtakes, and not in the film itself.
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| Face to face with Mr. Razorback |
One huge plus is the beautiful visuals. The movie has some great style, creativity, and often stunning cinematography that gives an epic feel to the primeval environment. Unfortunately, it's often a matter of style over substance here, because the plot remains thin, jumbled and lacking in the monster thrills.
Be sure not to miss:
- Camels love Coca-Cola
- Why is there a car up in that tree? Oh, wait, this is Australia. I better get used to that.
- Rats enough!
Internet review:
"I don't think it ever really embraced its own shittiness enough." - Pete
Should I watch it?
A bit of a letdown if you're expecting a monster-movie. It's still worth seeing despite the flaws.
Where can I find it?
Links here.
Razorback gets...
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