After an appointment for an interview fails, two online producers try to save their trip by interviewing another person they weren't aware of before. This person, a seaman, has a story to tell about a survival experience involving a walrus - and he's also on a mission...
"Tusk" is a low-budget horror film with a near-cameo appearance by Johnny Depp, and a full appearance by a walrus. It's partly marketed as a comic horror film, but certainly not everyone agrees on the comic aspect. A strong stomach and strong nerves are required to sit it through, this is not "Young Frankenstein" or "Shaun of the Dead". Production quality is good enough, some effort went into the dialogue, etc. pp. - it has a couple of sections that feel uneven, or a bit confusing, but overall it's a watchable movie that moves along nicely. Certainly no Academy Award winning material, but for what it is, it's a job well done.
But as you watch it, you begin to realize the emptiness. According to sources, "Tusk" is the result of some social media idea, and it shows. What is most disturbing about the movie, is that it kinda seems to indifferently endorse what it's doing - which is probably what it is intended to do. (Which, in itself, is a bit... poor.) The body horror is shocking, but we've seen gore on the screen many times before, and much worse. Something else is wrong about this movie, but it's not as blunt as the smile at the ending of the "I Spit On Your Grave" remake.
It puts up this facade of somehow understanding, it creates some sort of context and justification, for something, but effectively just acknowledges the insane cruelty. Full stop. The message it leaves behind is somehow the same as that of a YouTube prank video, where somebody actually dies, and the prankster keeps repeating: Hey, it was just a prank!
All the elements are there, only nothing seems to really matter. That's worse than the Serbian Film, or anything from Italian 70s/80s horror cinema, where at least a fundamental consensus of right and wrong is applied, in the sense that one or the other matters. (These films, of course, might still be unwatchable for the sensitive viewer, for different reasons.)
"Tusk" just says: Ok. Sorry - I guess? Swipe, next.
If this is your kind of humor, then "Tusk" is for you. But it's very unlikely it is. How good is a movie where you don't want to identify with any of the characters, one in which you wish nothing to no one, and the common denominator just is: Uhm, ok - I guess?
Nah. Not ok. "Faces of Death" (1978), which is mostly just a reel of ugly, sad things, has more depth than "Tusk", it says... something. "The Human Centipede" (2009) doesn't offer much, but it still has at least a faint sense of right and wrong, regardless of which of the two one might prefer. "Tusk" has an actual story, but it's as devoid of human soul as an AI video. A human soul isn't necessarily the most comfortable thing to observe, as has been shown in countless works of transgressive art, but just nodding through the events and moving on (where?) is simply too little.
"Tusk" can be somehow entertaining, albeit in a very dark, if not sickening, way. Technically, some effect is definitely there. Otherwise, it could've been good as a comedy, if there was anything really funny in it. It could've been good as a hardcore horror, if it wasn't so immature. It could've been good as a psycho thriller, or a portrait of an elderly man, or a clash of generations. But none of this evolves and is fully pronounced. It's just a shocker that might also give you a laugh, or more likely not, and that's literally it. Every why and every how of the story has been explained, it just doesn't seem to matter to anyone in the movie, thus it doesn't matter to the viewer. Love, hate, fun, pain - who cares. Swipe, next.
Is "Tusk" the first true Gen-Z movie? Watching it has pretty much the same effect as a self-induced electric shock from an electric cigarette lighter, only the lighter is much quicker. The true horror of "Tusk" is the indifference it puts on display. When it's over, you're left with the uncomfortable feeling of having hurt yourself for no gain. But, if nothing else, of course it still serves as an example: Don't. You don't want to be anyone in this movie. None.
Verdict: Do you like YouTube shorts? 4/10
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3099498/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tusk_(2014_film)
Trailer video:
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