Home Entertainment Cinophile: Razorback

Cinophile: Razorback

3 min read
8
[column size=one_half position=first ]

Australia is said to be dangerous place, filled with all manners of poisonous insects, man-eating animals, lethal plants and redneck politicians. Let’s add Giant Boars to that list as well. In Australia pork eats you – and it isn’t picky either…

In a small town in the remote Australian Outback, an old hunter is put on trial for the murder of his grandson. He claims a wild pig – a razorback – had attacked the house and dragged the boy into the night. The court acquits him on a lack of evidence, but nobody believes the story about the giant pig. Then an American journalist arrives three years later to investigate a local dog food factory, but instead runs into the same animal.

Razorback was the first feature film by Russell Mulcahy, who would later garner fame with Highlander. At face value it is just like every other animal horror: a giant beast goes after humans and proves to be quite unstoppable. And at face value Razorback looks and sounds a lot like an American movie made in Australia, but other than the lead actors this fully comes from the land down under. The movie has this offbeat sense to it: the characters border on the surreal, the plot throws curves you weren’t expecting, dry jokes keep rolling off the script and there is even space for one trippy dream sequence.

But Razorback is not a horror comedy like Shawn of the Dead or Bad Taste. It’s more a Jaws that oinks, but by the continent that gave us Mad Max and Priscilla: Queen Of the Desert. In reality the monster pig is not really the big draw card here. Let’s be frank: 1984 was not exactly equipped to bring a massive people-eating pig to life. Fortunately Razorback has character – and that is literal. Befitting for an Ozzie film, even the minor characters have personality and everyone is fun to watch. It helps that the film throws a few unexpected deaths , so you are never too certain of who may or may not survive this adventure.

Despite peddling in horror cliches, Razorback manages to be something altogether original. Unfortunately audiences of the day didn’t see it that way and it did quite poorly. Even today many animal horror lists overlook this movie, but it remains alive as an obscure classic. If you are a studio exec, this might be worth a remake…

[/column] [column size=one_half position=last ]
Razorback
Director Russell Mulcahy made a name directing music videos for Duran Duran, Elton John, the Rolling Stones and more. Seeing Razorback as a chance to move into movies, his breakthrough would only arrive two years later with Highlander.
xxx
Razorback has one contemporary: the horror movie Rogue, where a giant crocodile takes aim at a stranded groups of tourists on an Australian river. Rogue‘s final death scene has a close resemblance to a scene in Razorback, a tip of the hat to its predecessor.
[/column]
Razorback3
An animatronic pig was created for the movie at a cost of $250,000, but it only appears for a second in the movie.

Cinophile is a weekly feature showcasing films that are strange, brilliant, bizarre and explains why we love the movies.

Last Updated: July 7, 2014

8 Comments

  1. Well, I’ve certainly aged better than this movie, and we are both the same age 😛

    Reply

    • Spaffy

      July 7, 2014 at 15:29

      Same here.

      Reply

    • James Francis

      July 7, 2014 at 17:58

      I never even did the maths – yeah, this is quite old.

      Reply

  2. xdvd

    July 7, 2014 at 16:53

    Not everybody overlooked this classic. I still have my region 1 dvd. Saw this years ago at my local cinema (back then when they still had double features). Love this movie.

    Reply

    • James Francis

      July 7, 2014 at 17:57

      I am definitely not surprised that you own this 🙂

      Reply

  3. Skyblue

    July 7, 2014 at 23:32

    I remember this film from the 80’s. I saw it on Betamax back then though. Remember that bushpig scaring the kak outta me and fostering a deep fondness for horror pics.

    Reply

    • James Francis

      July 8, 2014 at 10:32

      I can imagine as a small kid this would totally rattle your cage. I saw Jaws when I was young and I still don’t go into the ocean.

      Reply

      • Skyblue

        July 8, 2014 at 11:07

        Lol! I am exactly the same when it comes to the ocean. All I hear is that music when going in deeper than my ankles.

        Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

Abandoned is a PS5 exclusive survival-horror that looks pants-crapping scary

Abandoned has you stepping into the shoes of a dude who is straight-up not having a good t…