O Corte da Navalha

I first saw this film over 20 years ago and it has remained a favourite of mine ever since.The plot is a little bizarre but the performances and cinematography are excellent in evoking a nightmare world of loss,desperation and pain.I wouldn't automatically bracket this film as a "Horror" at all but more a violent depiction of loss and the need for revenge.The grandfather obsessively searching for the Razorback is brilliant-pain,loss and terrifying determination.For me the only down is the ending which I felt strays into "schlock horror" territory too much.It could have been much better and more interesting in keeping with the rest of the film but,overall,it doesn't do the film too much harm.Quirky,bizarre,nightmarish and crazy-nice one.

The best thing about this Australian production is Russell Mulcahey's direction which gives this admittedly doofy material a veneer of class. (Although he does have a tendency to overuse the fog machine.)

What this film has going against it however is Gregory Harrision's ineffectual performance as the "hero". I remember him spending most of the film getting beaten up and/or falling down.

If this had focused on the "Moby Dick" aspect of the storyline, that has a grizzled old man searching the outback for the killer boar that killed his baby, it would have been a bit stronger in the storyline department. As it is now, it's OK.

In a small outback town a child is carried off by a massive wild boar, but the grandfather who was looking after the boy gets accused of killing the youngster. He tells that of a gigantic wild boar killed his grandson, but naturally the town's folk won't hear any off it. But in the trail there wasn't enough evidence to convict him so he's acquitted. Next a American female reporter who's an animal rights activist goes down under to get some interviews with some kangaroo hunters, but instead she comes face to face with the rampaging boar and disappears. The locals believe that she must have fallen down a mine shaft, but her husband Carl thinks otherwise and heads to Australia to dig up any dirt to what really happen.

Da Da.. Da Da dadada... Get out of the water! Oops, wrong film. Sorry about that as I just couldn't get that Jaws theme out of my head. "Razorback" is what you can call Australia's answer to "Jaws", but instead this one is on land and we get one angry looking boar terrorising locals and out-of-town visitors. The two films do share some similar characteristics, but while "Jaws" plays it mostly serious I found "Razorback" the opposite. Well, it would be hard to get anyone to take the story seriously because of how ridiculously stupid it is, but that doesn't stop this stylishly, grim shocker from being entertaining. Well, actually that wasn't the case on my first viewing of this flick as I wasn't particularly smitten over it. Maybe I was in a grumpy mood at the time, but on this occasion I enjoyed the silly experience far more.

The premise might cross into "Jaws", but the beginning also adds to the story - Australia's most infamous case of the baby that was taken by dingo, which still causes controversy today. The fella who penned this particular film Everett D Roche is probably Australian's most prominent screenwriter in the genre with such films like Patrick, Harlequin and Road Games under his belt. While, the story might be highly derivative there's enough imagination and excitement in spots to keep it from being uneventful. But there's one thing I can say about this production is that the thick style is all over thin substance. Who you can thank for that is a music video director making his debut in films - Russell Mulcahy (Highlander, The Shadow). He brought to the table an atmosphere that was visually stunning with its sprawling, desolate backdrop that has never been so eerily caught. Well lately, "Wolf Creek" did a good job on that aspect. But here there's a surreal quality about it with it's vibrant colour scheme and blanket of mist. The lighting composition is well staged with a visual goldmine exploding on screen with the spectacular shots of the horizon. The vacant outback simply spills off the screen that you just think that it's such a great backdrop for a horror flick. The expansive camera-work is swift in it's movement by capturing every frame with a certain amount of panache and the odd inventive angle and POV shot. The electronic score is effectively worked into the piece along with hissing sound effects that added even more to the unsteady, dreamlike texture.

Since there is not much in the way of surprises, director Mulcahy ups the thrills and action in such an unyielding fashion to set the film alight. While, the gore might be lacking, the deaths are unpleasant and also thrown in some animal cruelty. What was surprising is that the since the spot light is basically on the mechanical boar - it doesn't look too bad, well towards the end it might lose some of the effect it created early on. But I have seen far worse.

The performances are tolerable enough even with some eccentric yahoos who generated some agreeable humour. The script is purely senseless dribble, but there's some dry sarcasm, thick slang and a laid back attitude that works its way in because of the culture. Gregory Harrison is passable as Carl Winters. Bill Kerr is excellent as the stubborn boar hunter Jake Cullan who has a chip on his shoulder and who's crusade is to get the giant pig. Arkie Whiteley is lovely Sarah Cameron and Judy Morris is decent as Beth Winters. But the most memorable performances is the cheerful maniac brothers Benny and Dicko who are marvellously played by Chris Haywood and David Argue that add the wild and wacky feel to the flick.

A highly spirited and trashy Australian knock-off that goes down well with a few cold ones.

Call me stupid, but this is actually one of my favorite horror flicks. The story's about a giant wild boar munching on Aussies in the outback. Our hero goes in search of his wife...she's missing out there. Many interesting ideas come forth in this movie. I especially like the kangaroo killing brothers Benny and Dicko (hehe). The way the movie portrays them is interesting, contrasting the life of the outback trash to the much more civilized life of Bill, the hero. I also enjoyed the use of weird settings(the desert with that "horse") to create atmosphere. Overall, I enjoyed this flick a lot, and I think most horror fans would if they look beneath the seemingly ridiculous plot.

It's not that scary with an abrupt ending and features some really annoying characters but Razorback is still overall a good thriller. Gregory Harrison and Bill Kerr are both great. There's a few effectively suspenseful scenes and it's surprisingly extremely well filmed with some really gorgeous shots. There are some laughably bad moments and the music by Iva Davies is really good.