Guest Blogger Pete Birnie from The Cult of Alfie talks Hobo with a Shotgun!

Sooooo, it is with great pleasure that I introduce Mr Pete Birnie from The Cult of Alfie as my guest blogger today! Pete is a bit of a kung-fu nerd and from working at the local leisure center, is one of the guys responsible for helping my Parental's Roy and Gail Cooper into shape for their trek to the Mount Everest Base Camp this October. Anyhoo, when I heard he had just written a blog about Jason Eisner's Hobo with a Shotgun, I figured, what a perfect post to introduce y'all to this crazy young man! :) When you get a chance, please do check out his website, and the numerous video parodies that are on there! There are definitely a few belters...although you might be questioning his sexuality by the end of them, haha!

Without further adu....

Hobowith a Shotgun, this is now one of my favourite films. The beginning comes across as whimsy, bringing back memories of that great show the littlest hobo...honestly that’s what the music reminded me of. As the Hobo arrives in town making it feel like it's the happiest event in the world. Rutger Hauer was made for this role, acting perfectly as the tired old man, god I LOVE Rutger Hauer.

People’s heads get blown off, arms broken, hung, the violence is gruesome, someone’s head even gets mashed in by dodgems...this is where the movie turns into the ultimate revenge film. As people die left, right and centre, Hauer's face is concentrated on his trolley as it fly’s across the street, as if it's the most important thing in the world. Bottles fly and all his belongings lay spread around the floor. Watching Hauer turn into the angry revenge filled Hobo is a joy. As he realises the police are under the thumb of the bad guys, as they carve the word scum into his chest...the troma like violence within this movie suits it to a tee. With heads exploding and hands being ripped off, I didn't even flinch as it suited it so much. Hauer is amazing, his rugged I’ll do what I want charm is brilliant and being a huge fan of him, it's a guilty pleasure.

Watching it dawned on me what the following scenes reminded me, the old westerns I used to watch flashed through my head. You know the scenes where the good guy has had enough crap, the massive music letting him deliver justice one shell at a time! That’s the tagline to this movie.

I can't begin to express how much I enjoyed this film, the moral message obviously being don't stand and watch, help your fellow man. As the Hobo hooks up with a local prostitute, their relationship becomes more father and daughter. A favourite part of mine, when she tells him he can't fix everything with a shotgun, and then they dream to start a lawn moving business together. 

The bad guys are brilliantly cast, two brothers and their father, who watches them vie for his attention, preferring one son over the other, a sadistic little weasel who performs all sorts of horrific acts (watch out for the "dad he blew my dick off" scene!) Drake the father has the town under his spell of fear, calling it the Drake show throughout.

As always one last obstacle comes between the town being free or doomed to become hell on earth.  Two unstoppable brutal monsters, all metal clad, sweep into the action...watching as one brutally hangs people with what I can only describe a harpoon gun. He ropes their heads and hangs them by shooting them into the ceiling, showing no emotion. It's a classic scene as they hang twirling, and then Hauer enters the scene. The plot is light but what do you expect, it's called Hobo with a Shotgun!?! And it's AWESOME!!!

(And the ending song was taken from the cartoon the Raccoons, which is indeed also awesome!)