Tusk Review: Kevin Smith Tries to Go Full Walrus But Comes Up Just Short

Kevin Smith’s latest film titled ‘Tusk’ is a truly disturbing and off putting horror movie that unfortunately loses its identity in the third act…..

By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer

It was just over a year ago that an ad was placed on Gumtree.com where a mysterious homeowner invited a ‘lodger’ to move in them at no cost or expense whatsoever as long as the person accepting the free room and board agreed to dress as a walrus for approximately two hours per day. The letter stated that the old man had befriended a walrus while he lived on a remote island for several years, and he had never had companionship before or after those days like he had with the animal. The ad was so bizarre and yet hilarious that writer/director Kevin Smith and his longtime best friend and podcast co-host Scott Mosier spent over an hour talking about the letter, the offer being made and how this sounded like a horror movie just waiting to happen.

The inspiration put Smith back on the keyboard where he whipped up a script in a matter of days and along with the support of his huge Twitter following came up with the film ‘Tusk’ which opens in theaters this weekend. While Smith has teetered between film and retirement for the last few years, his podcasts have given him new life in creating material and ‘Tusk’ is just the newest movie on his radar. He’s currently filming another movie based on a story that took place on his podcast with at least one more in the works as well.

‘Tusk’ is also Smith’s second foray into the horror genre after spending most of his career making dick and fart jokes in a long series of comedies with a few hints of drama intertwined.

This film starts off in Los Angeles following a snarky podcaster named Wallace (Justin Long), who along with his pal Teddy have a highly successful show called ‘The Not-See Podcast’ (the play on words while kind of tasteless is based on the fact that Wallace goes out and finds these unique people so they can make fun of them on the show, but Teddy never goes along with him so he only sees things through his co-host’s eyes thus not-see). Wallace was once a failed comedian, but once he figured out he could make a lot more money being an asshole, he changed his format, got a podcast and started raking in six-figures.

His latest mission takes him to Canada where he will interview a boy who became internet famous after a brutal mishap left him without a leg, but quickly a YouTube sensation. Wallace is going there to more or less mock the kid and relaying this back to his friend for the sake of their podcast. Wallace also has his hot girlfriend at home (played by newcomer Genesis Rodriguez), who was by his side when he was still a lovable loser, but now doesn’t seem to like his act quite as much since he has to be a jerk to be successful.

When things fall apart with the interview in Canada, Wallace is forced to find another person to interview so the podcast doesn’t skip a beat. Thankfully he wanders across an advertisement left in a men’s room in a bar offering free room and board to a lodger, who would be willing to help an old, wheelchair bound man with chores around the house while listening to his fascinating tales from years spent on the open seas. Immediately, Wallace jumps on the chance to talk to this guy, but when he arrives things go from weird to bad in a hurry.

The first half of ‘Tusk’ is a great set up for the horror filled second act where Wallace meets the true terror of facing a man who has not only lost touch with reality, but has a sick sense of companionship that can only be gained alongside a walrus. So what better way to recreate that situation than to turn Wallace into his own personal walrus? The man — played by veteran actor Michael Parks — is the real star of the film. His creepy demeanor and wide eyed looks should send shivers down your spine and Parks delivers in grand fashion.

Parks has long been a favorite bit player for director/writer Quentin Tarantino, but often underutilized in his movies. Where Tarantino only dabbles with Parks, Smith uses him like a wide-bristled brush, painting the canvases of his last two films as the 76-year old actor proves he should have been given bigger parts a long time ago.

The horror parts of the film are truly disturbing and equally frightening. This isn’t an old fashioned scare fest you’d normally see on Halloween. This is the kind of horror that leaves you cringing in your seat and uncomfortable at what you’re witnessing unfold. Parks is a fantastic tormentor and Long (as much as you can recognize him at certain parts of this movie) pulls off terrified like few male actors usually do in horror fare such as this.

Where Smith’s movie starts to fall apart unfortunately is with the introduction of Johnny Depp playing a detective hot on the trail of this serial killer, who teams up with Wallace’s girlfriend and best friend to track him down before it’s too late. Depp was apparently such a land for Smith that he decided to eat up a big chunk of the film giving him monologues and scenes that seemed to be added specifically to allow him to have a bigger part. His ‘investigation’ was so drawn out it took far too much time away from Parks continued torture of poor Justin Long.

Credit to Rodriguez, who carries the brunt of the emotional weight for this movie outside of Long’s performance, and I’d bet she’s an actress who will probably gain the most from playing a part in this film. She’s pretty and spunky but pulls off emotional beats that could probably tie up other actresses in knots. Smith shoots and misses, however, with his addition of Haley Joel Osment as the best friend. The former ‘Sixth Sense’ actor isn’t bad so much as he’s nearly non-existent and the secondary (and completely unnecessary) story he shares with Rodriguez is so random if you pulled it out of the movie, you’d never know it was there in the first place.

If you’re a fan of Smith or his podcasts, there are also dozens of little Easter eggs shoved into this film as small hints back to past shows while not detracting from the movie as a whole. Where Smith goes off course is trying to decide if this is a horror-comedy or a comedy-horror. The movie is plenty disturbing, but Depp’s character is so over the top and comical that you can’t help but laugh at how ridiculous he comes across during his scenes. Smith also injects plenty of stereotypical Canadian humor (lots of hockey, poutine and girls who say aboot), but if you’re not a big fan of our neighbors up north, his love letter might get lost in the mail.

The end of the movie is the other major issue with ‘Tusk’. Without any spoilers, let’s just say it’s so ludicrous, it had me leaving the theater with a confused look of ‘WTF?’ on my face. Maybe that was the point, but it definitely got lost on me.

Overall, ‘Tusk’ is still a film worth seeing despite its shortcomings. The performances by Parks and Long far outweigh the bad acting and overdone make-up Depp wears during the film. The story goes off course in the last 20 minutes or so, but it’s not enough that it should deter you from watching to that point. It was almost the same feeling in Smith’s last movie ‘Red State’, which I thought was an equally uneasy look at religious fanaticism in this country before the ending felt rushed and almost as confusing as ‘Tusk’.

Smith has found a niche in the horror genre, but he needs to go all in or the comical undertones in ‘Tusk’ will continue to haunt his future efforts and that’s no laughing matter.