Razorback (1984)

 

This film always fascinated me as a child, but I never got to see it until I was well and truly an adult. Nevertheless, in spite of expecting something wholly different, this one is one of those rare gems that genrefans will probably adore and it has a surprising amount of surreal imagery, even if at its core it truly is a film about a killer pig.

Boar, actually. But this little film is far from boring.

Sometimes, I crack myself up.

In the Australian outback, an old hunter is waylaid by a massive boar that takes his grandchild. Of course, no one believes him but lack of evidence prevents the law from sentencing the old man to prison. Two years pass, and a female reporter from New York arrives to make a documentary about kangaroo shooters. Things don't go too well, as she is attacked by two inbred weirdos from town, but is eventually slain by the boar as those hillbillies make too much noise. 

In fact, those two are probably the most scary element of this film and they are far worse monsters than the boar itself. 

Of course, the reporter's fiancée arrives to find out what happened, but things don't go too well for him, either. He is pretty much dumped in the middle of nowhere by those two vile humans, but is fortunately saved by a young woman who is all sorts of helpful. He even gets help from the old man who is still obsessively hunting the massive boar, and because our American friend has seen it, things heat up. 

Tension builds up to the big climax at the decrepit (but still running) dog food factory. 

Storywise, 'Razorback' doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I mean, why no one has ever beaten the everliving snot out of those two clearly criminal brothers is anyone's guess. Not even the most backwards town would tolerate those two. The factory is all sorts of health and safety code violation and actually the enormous boar isn't the most memorable monster here, even if it does kill a few people. 

You don't see the boar that often, but chances are that's because the animatronic didn't work as convincingly as one would hope. The facial features are okay, but the running motion is clearly a big thing running on a track. 

Let's just say it isn't as impressive as one would hope.

What this film does have going for it in spades, is the surreal imagery and dreamlike tone of an enormous amount of shots. Russell Mulcahy started out making music videos, and it really shows. A lot of shots are bizarre but gorgeous, with excellent framing and some brilliant colourschemes, making all this seem like something out of a different world altogether. 

Cinematographers take note: this is how you create an atmosphere.

Is it a great film? No, but it sure as all heck is a memorable one, and for fans of 'creatures running amok' it's pretty much required viewing.