Editorials
In Defense of Kevin Smith’s ‘Tusk’
“Is man indeed a walrus at heart?”
That is the question that Kevin Smith posed to audiences in 2014 with his body-horror-comedy Tusk. Apparently, no one wanted to know the answer because the film flopped in theaters. When Tusk premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in Septembe of 2014, it actually received mostly positive word-of-mouth from viewers. Once it saw a wide release two weeks later however, people couldn’t seem to stop shit-talking it.
It’s no secret that hating on Kevin Smith seems to be the cool thing to do nowadays (even more cool than hating Eli Roth). Many of his “fans” claim he hasn’t made a legitimately good movie since Chasing Amy in 1997. I would argue that Dogma, Clerks II and Zack and Miri Make a Porno are all winners, but what do I know? Hell, I even like certain things about Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Jersey Girl (it’s really not that bad).
Smith would make his first foray into horror with Red State, a political crime-horror film with an admittedly fantastic cast (how he managed to nab John Goodman and Melissa Leo I’ll never know) that sparked controversy from the get-go when Smith chose to self-distribute the film under the SModcast Pictures banner with a traveling show in select cities. It divided critics (though it’s got a better-than-you’d-expect 58% Rotten Tomatoes score) and audiences alike, but I personally think it’s pretty great, save for that tacked on after-school-special ending. The polarizing reviews that film received would not hold a candle to those of his next film: Tusk, the first installment of his “True North” trilogy that continues with this year’s Yoga Hosers (read our review) and next year’s Moose Jaws, which I am particularly excited for.
As someone who has either loved or really liked most of Smith’s work (save for Mallrats and the atrocious Cop Out, which wasn’t even his script so I can’t really hold him responsible for that one), it makes perfect sense to come to the defense of Tusk, which sees quite a bit of hate here in Bloody Disgusting’s comments section. Even Mr. Disgusting loathes the film. I may not be able to make any converts, but my hope is that this post will serve as a safe haven for those of you who do like the film and feel like you can’t come clean for fear of an online verbal bashing. Let it be known that I am here for you! Tusk is actually a pretty great movie, Guy LaPointe and all!
***SPOILERS BELOW***
The plot of Tusk is a timeless one: an elderly man (Michael Parks, who owns the movie) wants to turn another man into a walrus so that he can be his companion for life. The whole film essentially plays like a pseudo sequel to Quint’s USS Indianapolis speech from Jaws.
The story behind the film’s creation is an interesting one. From Wikipedia:
The idea for the film came during the recording of SModcast 259 The Walrus and The Carpenter. In the episode, Smith with his longtime friend and producer Scott Mosier discussed an article featuring a Gumtree ad where a homeowner was offering a living situation free of charge, if the lodger agrees to dress as a walrus. The discussion went on from there, resulting in almost an hour of the episode being spent on reconstructing and telling a hypothetical story based on the ad. Smith then told his Twitter followers to tweet “#WalrusYes” if they wanted to see their hypothetical turned into a film, or “#WalrusNo” if they did not. A vast majority of Smith’s following agreed that the film should be made. The post on Gumtree was in fact a prank post by noted Brighton poet and prankster Chris Parkinson, who upon hearing of the planned film said he was a big fan of Smith and that he would love to be involved. Smith eventually hired Parkinson as an associate producer in November.
So really, if anyone is to “blame” for Tusk, it’s Smith’s followers (many of whom apparently went on to hate the film), but I digress. Many people seem to dislike Tusk based on the plot alone, but if that’s the case, why did they watch it in the first place? Clearly the film wasn’t meant for someone who doesn’t want to see a movie about a man turning another man into his walrus friend.
Let’s get this out of the way: lead character Wallace Bryton (Justin Long) is a huge asshole. Nothing about him inspires sympathy for what happens to him later in the film. This may pose a problem for some viewers, especially those looking for legitimate horror. You can’t have horror without a character to care about, amiright?
That being said, the scene where Wallace discovers that his leg has been amputated is easily the highlight of the film (unless the walrus suit reveal is your favorite, I go back and forth). It is reminiscent of Misery, but it’s possibly one of the most unsettling scenes put on film in recent memory.
Even if you can’t stand Long’s character, you have to admit that no one deserves that fate. Long’s reactions to his missing limb are haunting, and almost (almost) make you forget what a terrible person his character is. Once he is in his full walrus suit, Long is essentially relegated to just hopping around and grunting for the remainder of the film. Still, he makes for a pretty convincing walrus. That reveal is equal points humorous and shocking though. Kudos to Smith for not holding back with that creature design. The quick-zoom-out of the camera when Walrus Wallace first makes his appearance adds to the hilarity of the situation.
As mentioned previously, Parks owns Tusk. He gives such a compelling performance and really just falls into the roll. After his performance as Pastor Cooper in Red State, it’s easy to see why Smith wanted to cast him as the villainous and completely unhinged Howard Howe in Tusk. Even if you hate the film, you’ve got to admire Parks’ commitment. He legitimately sells his characters obsession with a walrus named Mr. Tusk, and actually makes you feel a little bad for him when you learn that he had to eat him to survive (though, in a very The Mist-like twist, help arrives just moments after he has finished his meal).
One aspect of the film that doesn’t entirely work is the character of Ally, played by Génesis Rodríguez. Her willingness to help Wallace after admitting to Teddy (and the audience, in a scene that practically breaks the fourth wall) how awful he treats her and how terrible he makes her feel is confounding. Maybe it’s just because I lack the empathy that the character does, but it just doesn’t seem believable that she would fly to Canada to rescue someone who makes her happy that her dad isn’t alive to see her. Her monologue at the midway point of the film is exceptional though. It’s just a shame that all of the character development built up during it is ruined when she decides to go rescue Wallace.
Even Teddy’s (Haley Joel Osment) motivations aren’t entirely clear, since he’s the one having sex with Ally, (though Smith does hide his identity for a good five minutes before revealing who it is Ally is talking to). I get it: they’re best friends, but Wallace is a huge douchebag and Teddy must not like him too much if he’s having sex with his girlfriend. Teddy and Ally’s unclear motivations for wanting to save Wallace are really my biggest complaints about Tusk. Osment is pretty fun in the role though, and it is nice to see him back on the screen, even if he spends the first half of the movie laughing obnoxiously.
Humor plays a big part in Tusk, and Smith’s frat-boy humor is present throughout the film, although not as prevalently as it is in something like Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. From the constant mentions of walrus penises to the fact that Wallace’s podcast is named “The Not-See Party” (Teddy is afraid of flying so Wallace goes to interview their guests and during the podcast he tells Teddy about his experience since Teddy hasn’t seen he interview subject), it’s all a little juvenile, but most of it works in the context of the film.
Let’s get to the walrus elephant in the room: Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Guy LaPointe. If anyone was on the fence about Tusk at this point in the film (he show up exactly 63 minutes into the proceedings), Depp undoubtedly managed to knock them off of it. While he is only present in the final 40 minutes of the film (and not even all of it), he is a bizarre character that turns Tusk into a completely different film than what it once was before. Horror comedy is a tricky thing to nail with audiences. The main reason for this is that what scares one person may not scare someone else and what one person finds funny may induce eye-rolls from another person. When you combine two polarizing genres into one, it further narrows your audience.
Guy Lapointe is the turning point of Tusk, and I am apparently in the minority of audience members who finds him to be absolutely hilarious. From the moment he did his impression of a crucified T-rex (“It is one fuck of a bummer to look at I will tell you that!”), I was sold. It completely offset any of the horror that came before it, and that’s alright! Smith opted to turn his truly disturbing body-horror film into a straight-up comedy, and it does work. It just doesn’t work if you didn’t shift tone/genres with the film when he appeared.
Depp shares only one scene with Parks, and it is truly a wonder to behold. It’s only four and a half minutes long, but Smith successfully manages to blend humor and tension fairly well in this battle of wits stupidity between the two characters.
LaPointe is a quirky character, and the fact that he’s got a leading role in Yoga Hosers makes me even more excited to see it (and if you were on the fence about that film, you probably just decided whether or not you want to watch it).
Smith does attempt to infuse some political commentary in Tusk, which comes across as a little ham-handed. LaPointe’s insistence that “The real savage animals are the human beings” feels shoe-horned in and unnecessary. Maybe I’m just overthinking it (or did Smith just under-think it?), but it’s worth mentioning.
From a technical standpoint, Tusk is fairly competent. The budget seems a little too small to make use of a good cinematographer. It’s not that the cinematography is bad, per se, it’s just that Tusk is a very contained film. Most scenes take place in a room, though Howe’s mansion is glorious to look at. The music is also appropriately creepy, though the use of Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk” in the film’s climactic battle, while fitting, is a little too on the nose. “Tusk” is one of my favorite songs though so I can’t complain about that too much, but I can just see the eye rolls in the audience the second those drums started playing.
Adding to my affinity for the film is the fact that I really do like Kevin Smith. I even like the way he sneaks his love for Canada in his films (“How’s everything over at Degrassi? You kids still getting knocked up and shot at?” and “I told him Canada doesn’t have any serial killers!” are the standouts in Tusk). I may have never met him, but he is always comes across as a pretty decent guy in his interviews. His reluctance to follow the majority has always been one of his most endearing qualities, no matter how many time it gets him in trouble. He just doesn’t give a fuck and he does whatever he wants. Not many Hollywood directors can say that about themselves.
Look, no one would accuse Tusk of being high art, but it knows exactly the kind of film it’s supposed to be, which is a silly, disturbing body-horror film. Tusk may not be your Mr. Tusk (and really, don’t we all want to find our own Mr. Tusk?), but it’s certainly not the train-wreck so many people make it out to be.
Horror was thriving so well in the 1980s that movies like Pen Densham’s The Kiss (1988) would understandably get lost in the shuffle, only to then gain their fans later on in life. Even still, this one Canadian-American curio has had a more challenging time than others, as far as contemporary reevaluations go, which is very likely due to the movie’s limited availability—at least as of this write-up.
However, the scarceness of The Kiss, while a bit annoying, makes it like catnip for ‘80s horror completists everywhere. Hopefully, a lot of them will walk away satisfied after watching this hidden gem.
Even though The Kiss was intended as the first of several horror collaborations between Astral Pictures and TriStar, as well as the first feature produced by Densham, Richard B. Lewis and John Watson’s Trilogy Entertainment Group, it ended up being the only one produced from that former union. Once the movie was released, TriStar’s distribution jitters—they opted for a regional rollout—did the $6-million flick no favors. TriStar’s cold feet toward horror releases have been well noted, but The Kiss still did a tad better than Night of the Creeps (1986), another genre outing that flopped due to its regional opening.
Shot in Montreal, but set in Albany, New York, The Kiss—which was still called The Host just a few months before its October premiere—concerns an average middle-class family and their forthcoming situation. The uncanny problem in store for them was, in fact, set in motion some years earlier. As that hot and dusty flashback to the Belgian Congo shows, a familial curse was set upon the two Dunbar sisters well before Meredith Salenger’s teenage character was born.
Meredith Salenger, Nicholas Kilbertus and Mimi Kuzyk in The Kiss
The Kiss, which was based on a story by co-writer Stephen Volk (Ghostwatch) and penned by both Volk and Tom Ropelewski, has the outward appearance of The Stepfather (1987). This movie, though, is anything but a gender-flipped retread of that classic domestic disturber. For starters, The Kiss is far less grounded in reality—that much is clear from its unsettling opening scene. There, a trusting girl (Priscilla Mouzakiotis) is the victim of her own deceptive aunt (Céline Lomez); the movie’s titular act, and the story’s first shock, becomes the means of transferring an ancient evil from one host to another.
In the present day, Salenger’s role of Amy Halloran, a religious schoolgirl, is dealt a harsh blow in life once her mother, Hilary Halloran née Dunbar (Pamela Collyer), suddenly dies in a freak accident. But rather than a complete stranger sweeping the Halloran widower (Nicholas Kilbertus) off his feet some months later, Joanna Pacula’s character is that chosen temptress. Here, Pacula plays the grown-up version of the afflicted girl last seen in the movie’s opener. Since Amy’s mother is insistent about there being no reunion between estranged sisters, and she even contemplates buying a gun shortly before her tragic demise, it’s presumable that Aunt Felice poses a threat to her family.
The Kiss isn’t a movie ever too concerned about its own predictability. The audience is indeed often one step ahead of the story here, but also keep in mind how every one of those steps is loud. Take, for instance, the death of Amy’s mother; the Halloran matriarch goes out in garish, gruesome fashion, as a supernaturally commandeered truck sends Collyer’s character through a store window first, then leaves her one leg short. The directorial enthusiasm truly comes out in horrific moments such as these.
The Kiss is always sure to revel in its characters’ ills and misfortunes. So if the plot doesn’t impress, then its lurid parts should. Amy’s mother’s exit scene was proof of an eager, first-time horror director proving his worth. Then, bestie Heather (Sabrina Boudot) survives to tell the tale of a bizarre escalator mishap that, despite showing relatively less gore, spikes viewers’ empathy meter. The wilder bits of this movie, however, commence with that inevitable hookup between Felice and Amy’s bewitched father; their kitchen coitus is paralleled by Amy’s feverish classroom terror. The outcome there is a disquieting cross-cut of sex magic and a young woman’s menstrual onset plus hallucinations.
Sabrina Boudot in The Kiss
From foam appliances to bladders, that parade of special effects in The Kiss casts its own spell on the audience. Felice’s familiar, a visibly malevolent cat, was realized here with several models, some more articulate than others. Admittedly, the demon cat’s not as convincing as most of the effects here, but accepting that artifice, as opposed to fighting it, will make the whole experience way more enjoyable. As for the makeup used to manifest Felice’s inner villainy, it is more minimal and subtle than one might like; yet the work done to turn Pacula into an antithesis of herself is nonetheless compelling.
The otherworldly perils and dreadful goings-on wouldn’t work half as well as they do in The Kiss without the story’s contrast effect. Finding frights in picturesque, extremely ordinary settings was something that took off in the ‘80s, thanks to that sweeping shift to locales like the suburbs. And Amy’s home, a replica of a real Montreal suburban house, is the ideal battleground for any proper good-versus-evil story. It’s also prime real estate for this movie’s satanic panic-inspired horrors.
Because of their ostensibly similar plots, The Kiss has been compared to The Exorcist (1973). Except in Densham’s movie, the sinister, non-Christian entity targeting a teen girl lies within something less apparent and, perhaps, more devastating upon its exposure. To an outsider, Pacula’s Aunt Felice is too beautiful and unobjectionable to ever suspect of being a monster. More suspicious is how quickly she rips into the fabric of the Halloran home. Felice’s mere presence upsets the “texture of family life,” according to the director.
The demon cat in The Kiss
Taking out Amy’s mother and best friend, and distracting her father, would suggest The Kiss is playing by a different set of rules. It is initially leaving its adolescent target unsupported in a rather grim scenario. In contrast, though, this story offers up a surrogate parent who does her best to fill in the holes of Amy’s eroding home life. Mimi Kuzyk does good work as that family friend and doctor, Brenda, who guides the lost child without also steering her in any one direction; she is naturally skeptical of Amy’s accusations until it’s almost too late to do anything about them. So although The Kiss does an admirable job of undoing the main character’s support system, it never leaves her without a lifeline. This dark movie, in spite of everything that’s transpired, doesn’t deprive itself of light and hope.
The Kiss is a potent mélange of familiar ideas. If not for the director’s surprise flair for horror, though, the movie would have been less effective. What a shame that Pen Densham didn’t continue with the genre. As for Joanna Pacula, she is, too, owed credit as the wicked vixen opposite Meredith Salenger’s pitiable Amy; she never fails to be unsettling in her role. Pacula makes Aunt Felice a sexy yet intimidating character.
For horror that steadily doles out madness and menace, while also delivering a flashy and ghastly conclusion, The Kiss is certain to please. Yes, it’s cheesy all the way, but most favorably, everyone involved plays everything straight. That kind of commitment goes a long way with this movie.
The Kiss
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