Razorback

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.

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.

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.

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.

Okay, the plot sounds ludicrous, doesn't it? A giant killer pig? Despite the apparent ridiculousness of the plot, this movie is better than one might expect.

Beth Winters, a Canadian reporter, has come to the small Australian Outback town of Gamulla to shoot a story about the local dog food packing plant, which uses the meat of poached kangaroos in its product. When Beth disappears one night, her husband Carl arrives to find out what happened. Beth apparently ran afoul of the psychotic Baker brothers, who work in the plant. But crusty old Jake Cullen soon learns that Beth was a victim of a giant razorback, the same one that carried off his grandson years before and which he has been hunting ever since.

The Australian Outback becomes an almost alien world - desolate, strange and scary where any form of undiscovered life might exist. You don't get to see much of the giant pig, admittedly, but then they didn't have CGI back in the early 80's. The real menace of this movie lies with the kangaroo poachers, two brothers who reek of malevolence and filth all the way through the film. They were truly terrifying, and the insane laughter of David Argue (playing younger and more dangerous brother Dicko) still haunts me to this day.

Worth watching at least once.