Hobo with a Shotgun

I first saw this in 2011 on a dvd which I own. Revisited it recently. The film is about a freight-hopper (Rutger Hauer) who arrives in a town filled with criminals, corrupt policemen n hopeless fellas. After witnessing brutal crimes, ineffective police n undergoing torture, our hobo takes a shot gun n starts delivering justice one shell at a time.

This film has two similarities with Charles Bronson's character. In Hard Times, Charles Bronson's character as a hobo arrives in a new town. In Deathwish series, Bronson's character is a vigilante. The film is very violent, entertainingn hilarious. It gets a 7 instead of 8 for being a bit blasphemous.

BRILLIANT IN EVERY WAY!!! Hobo with a Shotgun is a fantastic Vigilante Thriller that could've came out in like 1980 & it's BEAUTIFUL lol!!! Sleazy,ulta violent,brutal,funny,crazy but also has Heart. Watched this so many times as it's so much crazy fun & RUTGER HAUER is BRILLIANT, wow what a performance!!! Hes so good as The homeless old guy looking for a new place to call home. The new town is like an apocalyptic urban ghetto it's full of danger & gangs & sickos & RUTGER has had enough of all the evil around him & gets a Shotgun & delivers his own Justice & it's BEAUTIFUL. The music is outstanding throughout the whole movie IT'S excellent & very 80s & the violence is Awesome & the Hospital scene is BRILLIANT!!! This is the a definite throwback to to the very old skook glory days of "anything goes" shocking Cinema of the Grindhouse days or the gritty & extremely violent world of "Exploitation" Cinema. Hobo is like a long lost "Troma" film from say 1983, this movie has that feel & look & is just a wild ride Vigilante Thriller that turns into a blood soaked splatter-punk flick like "Robocop 2" & it's a glorious gory MASTERPIECE.

Rutger really gives a career best performance as the "Hobo" & gives his lost character a depth & heart & a decency that could've all been lost in a "Grindhouse" style homage flick but with an intense actor like Rutger he brings so much more to the role, he's not just an angry vigilante, he's also a man lost in a disgusting world where everyone seems so nasty & evil. Rutger brings his Hobo to life with a rawness & you can't help but feel sorry for this down & out guy surrounded by scum. There's a serious story within all the bloody violence & craziness & Rutger's performance makes you wonder what the world is coming to? Although everything is hyper-crazy & exaggerated for the entertainment value it's all sick stuff that really does happen in real life.

The use of colour in it's cinematography is beautiful, very colourful & vibrant & sharpens the grit & grime of the urban hell-hole that our Hobo hero is surviving in & every scene is beautifully shot. I cherish this ultra-violent vigilante action Thriller & i thank this low-budget MASTERPIECE for getting me properly into the great "Rutger Hauer" as I've always liked him as an actor from Blade Runner, among a few others but it was performance in "Hobo" that really made me a Fan of the actor & got me checking out his older films & discovering some real Gems like Split Second, Wedlock, Omega Doom among others, the guy is a legend of Cult Cinema.

"Hobo" is a shockingly violent love-letter to old early 80's sick 'n' twisted Grindhouse films & its glorious.

Rutger Hauer R. I. P was a true legend of Cult Cinema & the straight-to-video B-movie world of films & was a unique presence of screen & is a Cult Hero to us movie geeks!!! I absolutely love Rutger in this Grindhouse Classic "Hobo" & the Awesome 90's Sci-fi Horror-Thriller "Split Second" & of Course the sci-fi Classic "Blade Runner" but he truly was great in pretty much anything he starred in & made the movie better by his screen presence, one of my favourite actors.

A homicidal hobo (a well-cast Rutger Hauer) drifts into a hellish town with the intent of purchasing a lawnmower but buys a shotgun instead and proceeds to messily clean up the streets. The film is an over-the-top parody of grindhouse films inspired by one of the 'fake trailers' in the Tarantino and Rodriguez-helmed 'Grindhouse' (2007; itself a parody of the obscure genre). Full of gleeful blood and gore, Hobo won't be to all tastes but is fast moving and splatterly fun. Shot in Nova Scotia, one of the first sanguineous scenes sees the bloody demise of Robb Wells (Trailer Park Boys' 'Ricky') and the lead villain ('The Drake') is Canadian actor Brian Downey (Stanley Tweedle in 'Lexx' (1997)). Cartoonish at times, the film sometimes has the look of a late-night commercial (especially in scenes involving Ivan and Slick, the Drake's murderous sons) but some of the imagery is memorable (in a bargain-basement way) - I especially liked 'The Plague', a pair of armoured, demonic hitmen who appear to battling a giant squid at one point. Good low-brow, high-concept fun for the right crowd (probably boys of all ages) at the right time (probably after midnight).

This is freaking art. Seriously, this movie is what the Machete movies should have been. And make sure to watch the alternative ending or extra scene, it is a little bonus gem. Whatever, this movie is more of a grindhouse movie than most of the original grindhouse movies from back in the ways. The film is about a drifter who grabs a shotgun and starts dispensing justice. The main thing I trip off of is how the film progressively gets better. Frankly it starts off a little too low budget for its own good but after, it becomes cinematic art.

He's a guardian angel walking the streets, a vicious protector of the weak and innocent. He is the hobo with a shotgun. He is Rutger Hauer. Hobo with a Shotgun is the story of... well, the title pretty much says it all. Bad guys led by a enjoyably psychotic gang lord named Drake dominate the unnamed city that is the setting of the movie. Drake and his two equally messed up offspring, Slick and Ivan, terrorize the people of this tortured city uncontested until the arrival of Hauer's Hobo, intent on using his saved nickels and dimes to buy a rusty old lawnmower that will surly start him on a honest, rewarding career. Sadly for Mr. Hobo, destiny has other plans, and our hero uses his mower money to purchase a old pump action shotgun with the intent of cleaning up the city. Along the way he is aided by a prostitute named Abby (a stunningly beautiful Molly Dunsworth) who has an affinity for destruction.

This films greatest strength is its oddball tone and freakishly beautiful bursts of violence that occur periodically through the movie. The chunks of the movie that involve crazy old Rutger Hauer blasting through waves of baddies in brutal fashion and the bizarre acts of violence perpetrated by the films antagonists are easily the highlights, and they never fail to delight with their brilliant, twisted gore effects. Director Jason Eisener is a master of cinematic displays of blood and guts, and god bless him for it because it takes the film to a whole other level. I would love to provide an example for your reading pleasure, but tragically spoiling any part of this movie is a crime to heinous to contemplate committing. Just know you will leave the theater feeling like a changed man after the brutal displays of carnage presented.

Unfortunately, the film is ultimately brought down by some poor scenes that stretched on for agonizing lengths. Many of these involve our homeless protagonist ranting senselessly to his lovely caretaker Abby, others involve the already hyperbolically inflated villains plotting the death of the Hobo. Perhaps what is most tragic is that Hauer, with the exception several brilliant lines in the films third act, never gets a chance to truly shine as the shotgun wielding hero, a huge disappointment considering the potential he possessed. Regardless of these flaws, the film is still an incredible experience based solely on the incredible displays of creative gore.