Day 5: Razorback

I think I recall being introduced to Razorback by someone referring to it as "The best killer pig movie." Now that I really think about that title, it's not a sub genre that really has a deep catalogue. So unless there is a hidden gem out there, congratulations to Razorback! It really is the best killer pig movie! Unfortunately, that doesn't mean much in this case.

It doesn't take much to know what this film is about. A giant Razorback boar terrorizing the Australian outback. The main protagonist is Carl Winters. He travels to Australia to track down his missing wife whom was killed by the Razorback early in the film. That's pretty much it. There are more characters, including two of the biggest asshole characters in cinema history. Seriously, I don't know what these guys' problem was, but holy shit! There's also a crazy old man driven by revenge on the Razorback. He's probably the most interesting character in the film, but he doesn't get enough screen time to really bring anything to the table.

Razorback has a great atmosphere to it. The Australian outback at nighttime makes for a great horror film setting. For this reason, early scenes involving the giant Razorback are extremely effective in building interest. But the film couldn't seem to make use of the momentum and quickly falls into a pattern of dullness that isn't escaped until the climax.

The special effects in Razorback are decent enough. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. This is THE BEST KILLER PIG MOVIE! I expected to see a lot more gore and a lot more pig! I can understand the less is more approach to showing the Razorback. But the gore is lacking in a big way. We have some blood here and there. There just isn't anything that really caught my attention in the kills department. The body count is also very lacking. I was looking forward to seeing how many creative ways this damn giant boar could kill people. So I'm a bit more than disappointed to  only see 2 on screen kills and 2 cutaways (One wasn't even because of the Razorback!).

It's hard for me to see where Razorback went wrong. It has a great concept, passable acting, and an awesome atmosphere. I guess I was just wanting something a bit more over the top. I don't really think that's expecting too much from "The best killer pig movie". A higher body count and something a little more outrageous in the gore department would have helped this film tremendously.

Body Count:4

Side Note:  I really really really really wanted to see this giant boar explode in some way during the finale. The way that he's eventually defeated was a cool idea, but is executed poorly. The explosion would have been better.