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“I am the egg man. They are the egg men. I am the walrus.” Welcome to Episode 007 of Horror Movie Weekly, where your late-night Horror hosts, your Triad of Terror — Jay of the Dead, BillChete and Lady Phantom — review Kevin Smith’s cinematic Horror oddity, “Tusk” (2014). Join us as we blubber on and seal the deal on whether this “polar”-izing Horror flick is worth your time. Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and thanks for listening!
On Horror Movie Weekly, your late-night Horror hosts Jay of the Dead, BillChete and Lady Phantom bring you one recent Horror movie review every Sunday. (We’re defining “recent” as any Horror movie released within the last five years.) And we always reveal next week’s pick at the end of every show, so you can watch along with us and be prepared for the following episode. Join us, and thanks for listening!
SHOW NOTES:
Introduction
— This episode contains spoilers for “Tusk” (2014).
– Horror Movie Weekly on Stitcher
— Horror Movie Weekly on iTunes
— Horror Movie Weekly RSS feed
— “The Taking of Deborah Logan” is now on Shudder
— “Joker” (2019)
— Sid Haig quote about remakes
Tusk (2014) — Genre Classification: Horror | Body Horror | Creature Feature (Beastly Freak)
Premise: When a podcaster from L.A. travels to Canada to interview an eccentric subject, he is abducted by a madman who plans to surgically transform him into a walrus!
Written and directed by Kevin Smith. Starring Michael Parks, Justin Long, et al. Rated R for some disturbing violence / gore, language and sexual content. Runtime: 1 hour, 42 min.
— This week’s film was inspired by this podcast episode (right-click to download).
Ratings and Recommendations: Tusk (2014)
Jay of the Dead = 7.5 ( Rental )
BillChete = 8.5 ( Buy it! )
Lady Phantom = 8.5 ( Buy it! )
Next on Episode 008: Cabin Fever (2016) — Lady Phantom’s pick
Podcast artwork: Lady Phantom
Original podcast theme music: Jay of the Dead
Links for this episode:
Hear Jay of the Dead’s guest segment on Horror Movie Podcast Ep. 183
Jay says check out Spooky Flix Fest 2019
Follow us on Twitter: @horror_weekly
Website: Horror Movie Weekly.com
Follow Lady Phantom on Twitter: @LadyPhantom74
Jay of the Dead’s film blog / solocast: ConsideringTheCinema.com
Jay’s HORROR-only content: ConsideringHorrorCinema.com
Pyles Digital Media Podcast Production Services: Email Natalie at HorrorMovieWeekly@gmail.com
Happy Monday HMW,
This was a very interesting episode as expected. A little of an intentional move on Bill’s part including that clip of Sid Haig to bolster his position on Halloween. Nothing but respect for Sid, but as a generalization, it’s not representative of all films. You do not need to know the reasons why, especially in horror movies. Rob Zombie’s Halloween: As a stand alone horror film, it’s okay for what it is. However, it does not feel like it belongs in the Halloween universe as created by John Carpenter. All the lore and backstory Zombie imbues in his version, does not fit with what Carpenter had already created, at least as how I interpret the world. I do not include Rob Zombie’s film as Halloween cannon, and Carpenter doesn’t either. Moving on…..
The Las Vegas shooter was demon possessed. Jay knows about this. That is why authorities have no idea of motive.
Like most people, I became aware of Kevin Smith for his comedies in the nineties in Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy. He has a talent for comedy. This is not to say that film makers cannot branch out and do other types of movies. It’s just to say that those films may not be as good as what they are primarily known for. As you may have surmised, I am not a fan of Tusk. When I saw the movie, it started like it might have some potential, but then it kept devolving and devolving so that by the end, I was completely and utterly disappointed.
“Never accept any food or beverage from someone you don’t know” That’s it. That is the entire crux of this film. The performances were fine, but the characters all sucked in my opinion. When you don’t have any characters to like, that is a fault of poor writing. I agree with Jay, the dark humor elements created a tone problem that could not be overcome. It was extremely poorly executed. This is a horror movie from someone who doesn’t know how to make a horror movie. The problem is when you get introduced to the “evil” in the film, it is done in such a subdued manner, that you never get caught up in the story’s narrative enough to be fully invested in the proceedings. Instead, it becomes a tiresome exercise in whether the transformation will be realized and what that will look like once it is complete.
I am a fan of body horror movies, like the films of David Cronenberg, so this aspect did not bother me. The Fly in 1986 is much more visually disturbing than anything you see in Tusk. There was just nothing about this movie that would have me wanting to revisit it, for any reason. It is an oddity as Jay eluded. It’s a 3/10 and an avoid.
Next up, 2016 Cabin Fever, not the Eli Roth version. It is a remake. I haven’t seen it. This should be a good one. Looking forward to it. Hope you guys like the review I posted for you on iTunes. I am an Android and Windows user, so I actually had to open an account with Apple, get an ID, so that I could post a review on iTunes. Apple has my info, but it was worth it.
Jay, I agree with Joker, definitely a horror/drama movie. I gave it an 8.5/10, so we are pretty close on this one.
Thanks and have a great week everyone!
Hi Sean, and thank you for your review. Insightful as per usual.
I am a sucker for canon in general. The thing is, I don’t think there is such a thing in the Halloween universe. Once upon a time, there was. Michael was after his sister, and he wouldn’t stop at anything. But even then, part 3, 4 and subsequent sequels jumped the shark so bad, that all canon went down the drain. Zombie’s Halloween then came, and even though it was different, it went with that canon way more than other movies. And it was scarier than other movies too. Funnily enough, Halloween 2018 took all that canon and erased it. But anyway.
As for Tusk, you’re right. To each his own.
Do you have any sources about the LV shooter? We have heard nothing that suggests possession, and is like to judge for myself.
I’ll check out your iTunes review ASAP. Thanks again, and read you soon!
Hi Lady Phantom,
Halloween 3 is a stand-alone and of course not a part of Michael’s story. I think they intended to make it an anthology with new stories every Halloween season, but that did not come to pass. When I speak of the Halloween universe, I mention this because it a series of films at this point. But, I refer to what John Carpenter had created with the first film. The latest movie is a direct sequel to the first film. 2, H2O, 4, 5, and the curse of are all separate outputs. I think it’s great that you like what Rob Zombie did with the IP. I think it’s a Rob Zombie movie and if I judge it based solely on that, I can like it more, but as a “Halloween” movie, it just doesn’t work for me.
On LV, it’s because they have no motive. They have nothing. With humans, there is always a reason and humans have a need to be understood.
Looking forward to Zombieland Doubletap and Parasite this weekend. Putting in work for the end of year list for the best horror movies of 2019. This is the most epic year for horror movies. I can’t believe the level of quality this year and I’ll be looking forward to all of your lists at the end of the year as well!
Yeah, I see what you’re saying. I just think that at this point, canon means nothing in the Halloween universe. And by the way, I just saw a video speculating about the sequel to Halloween 2018. If they do anything remotely similar to Halloween 2, having obliterated it, I will passionately hate them.
As for LV, it’s true they have nothing, but going from there to possession is a bit of a stretch. I’m a Catholic, and as such I believe things like that can happen. But with this guy… I really don’t know. I know, however, that possession is a delicate matter.