Review: Razorback (1984)

This is a mean-spirited movie.

I don't say that lightly:  This movie kills with abandon.  Whether they are good or bad, all sorts of terrible things happen to the characters in this movie, and not just as a result of encountering the titular creature.  The movie is 91 minutes of unadulterated horror: no comedic moments to lighten the mood, it goes hard and has a singular focus.

Which isn't to say it's a bad movie.  I'd daresay it is a bit refreshing for a movie to have a genuine sense that anybody can die.  There's a menacing tone throughout that makes the movie feel relentless, and even when the movie isn't focused on imminent danger, it never feels as if it is far away - things could go bad to worse to worst at any given moment.

I want to give a special shout out to the animatronic for the murderous razorback.  While not realistic by today's standards, it still holds up incredibly well for a 40-year-old movie.  The cinematography is also top tier, and really adds to the atmosphere of the movie.

The movie does lose a little steam towards the end, though that is largely the result of the script moving from the openness of the Outback to a canning facility for the final confrontation.  Granted, the facility itself also has an abundance of atmosphere (it is very much the type of facility that could only exist in a movie, but that is not a strike against it), it just pales in comparison to what the viewer has experienced before.

What's surprising about this film is that it is director Russell Mulcahy's first feature film.  There's a part where the hero of the film (who I won't reveal, as the film does an excellent job of misleading as to who the eventual protagonist will be) wanders the Outback hallucinating from dehydration that manages to be exquisitely surreal while never feeling out of place or dropping the ever-present menace the film has cultivated to this point.

Would I recommend this movie?  Yes, but with a caveat: I don't think someone who is a casual movie watcher would enjoy this much.  Fans of horror would be more open to it, though if they don't care for creature features, this likely isn't the one to win them over.  It's a movie I feel I could show to 10 different people and get 10 largely different opinions.

That said, 8 out of 10.