Razorback

Razorback (1984)

Runtime: 95 minutes

Directed by: Russell Mulcahy

Starring: Gregory Harrison, Arkie Whiteley, Bill Kerr, Chris Haywood, David Argue

From: Greater Union Film Distributors

When seeing a cult favorite goes right: 

For years I've known of this cult Ozzie horror film, and as it was on TCM Underground last night, that was the perfect opportunity for me to finally discover what the hype was about. Finally, I know that the story isn't greatly original and yet the roles that some people played behind the camera greatly helped out a wacky horror movie where a giant boar can bust through someone's wooden shack and rip the door off of an automobile.

The movie is set and filmed in the Australian Outback. The first few minutes are striking between how it is shot and there being a death that is both harsh and pretty shocking. An American reporter from New York City goes to do a story about how animals such as kangaroos are being shot and killed for usage as pet food (vegans out there, there's a short slaughterhouse scene you probably won't like); something happens to her and husband Gregory Harrison goes Down Under and deals with the type of bizarre human beings I'd expect to see in an Ozploitation film, as they WERE the type of people I typically have seen in the classic heyday of Ozploitation. Only in that world would I expect a character named DICKO BAKER to be present, and it was an appropriate name for that character in this film.

As an aside, the director originally thought of having Jeff Bridges play Harrison's role, but a producer refused because he “wasn't an international star”; and Harrison was? Maybe I underestimated the popularity of Trapper John M.D.... but I don't think it was a worldwide hit. Harrison was fine but imagining Bridges in the part makes me sad it did not happen. Harrison was also American so it's not like they wanted an Aussie for the role.

That director was Russell Mulcahy, and it was his job here that got attention and he got to do Highlander... and unfortunately Highlander 2: The Quickening. His overall oeuvre hasn't been great but some of his films have been decent and his music videos were usually pretty memorable. At the time, shooting a motion picture like a music video (filters, strobe lighting, quick cutting, and what have you) was a pretty novel idea. From that we got both David Fincher and-regrettably-Michael Bay, so you can think of it how you will. I say some of its ideas are overused even today but for here it managed to work. The story was more serious than most slashers of the time so its style and the overall surreal nature of this... it fit.

What ended up being big assets for the movie and the director was the cinematography and the editing. Dean Semler was hired for the former after the job he did on The Road Warrior, and because he worked for both Peter Weir and Bruce Beresford, I am sure that's why William M. Anderson was hired for the latter. Both did quality work here and it helped bring Mulcahy's ideas to life. This was one of the many movies inspired by Jaws, and like that film you don't see the titular Razorback all that often; it was a good decision here too, as plenty of time is spent getting to know the main characters, including Dicko and his equally villainous brother. This is not just “a giant pig movie.”

Also, you Aussies may be surprised, but Don Lane (briefly appearing in the film as himself) is unknown in America, despite being an American. For those that don't know, he was a greatly popular talk show host Down Under at the time.