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Men In Black 3

It’s not a sequel that needed to be made, but thanks to the charm of its leads and a tone that harks back to the wit and humour of the original, it’s a pretty enjoyable trip.

Bel Ami

The excellent female support cast saves this patchy effort, which is let down by its leading man and a flat screenplay.

The Dictator

A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.

The Woman In Black

Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.

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Hobo With A Shotgun (Film)

by Josh Forward | September 13, 2011 11:34 | Edited September 13, 2011 11:59

Packed to the brim with hilarious moments of depravity, this is a gleefully gory homage to exploitation flicks.

When settling in to watch a film titled Hobo with a Shotgun, there is one thing you can expect: a hobo with a shotgun. And the film delivers on this promise, there is a hobo and you can be damn sure, he has a shotgun. Better yet, he uses it. A lot. The second film after Machete to have been inspired from the joke trailers made for the Rodriguez/Tarantino double feature Grindhouse, director Jason Eisener's Hobo with a Shotgun actually succeeds more than its predecessor in terms of emulating an actual Grindhouse film. However, considering that one of the main criteria for a Grindhouse film is its over-the-top nature and nonsensical action, this is not always a good thing. Luckily, however, Eisener is aware of how absurd a film this should be, hamming up every delicious moment and spoofing conventions in hilarious fashion.

 

From the opening scene in which a man is decapitated using a barbed wire noose, after which a bikini clad girl dances in his fountain of blood, the precedent is pretty much set. Somehow the film manages to up the ante at every possible hilarious moment of depravity. Rutger Hauer embraces his status as a cult cinema identity and is perfect as the titular Hobo who's had enough of the rampant crime in the city. The villains are perfectly slimy and inhumanly despicable (even torching infants in one scene), and the female lead is the token hooker with a heart of gold.

 

Wisely sidestepping any moments of sincerity or drama amongst the gratuitous action, this is raw entertainment, and will certainly have its fans amongst gore fiends, but is to be avoided like the plague by anyone who is queasy at the sight of blood. With gross-outs and chuckles played in equal measure, Hobo with a Shotgun is a bloody delight.