Tusk (2014)
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A narcissistic podcaster's trip to Canada for an interview leads him into the hands of a deranged man with a bizarre obsession with walruses.
The story
Arrogant best friends Wallace Bryton and Teddy Craft host a podcast called The Not-See Party, where they interview eccentric people. Wallace travels to Canada to interview the 'Kill Bill Kid', but after the intended subject is found to have committed suicide, he seeks out a new subject. He finds a flyer for a free room and travels to the mansion of Howard Howe, a retired seaman in a wheelchair. Howard tells a story of a walrus that saved him, but the situation quickly turns dire when Wallace is drugged and captured by the eccentric man.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After Wallace is drugged by Howard, he wakes up to find himself strapped into a wheelchair with his leg amputated. Howard claims a spider bite necessitated the surgery and begins a plan to transform Wallace into a 'perfectly constructed walrus' by carving his bones into tusks. While Wallace's girlfriend Ally and friend Teddy are unaware of his plight, they eventually travel to Canada to rescue him. Howard, a man who suffered abuse and grew to hate humanity, intends to recreate his savior, a walrus named Mr. Tusk, by mutilating his victims. He eventually sews Wallace into a walrus costume made of human skin. A local detective, Guy LaPointe, warns Ally and Teddy that Howard is a serial killer who has been kidnapping and mutilating people for years. In the climax, Howard and Wallace engage in a fight where Wallace impales Howard on his tusks. A year later, Ally and Teddy visit Wallace in a wildlife refuge, where he still retains some of his humanity despite his condition.
- First release year
- 2014
- Runtime (minutes)
- 101
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Kevin Smith
- Writers
- Kevin Smith · writer
- Cast and characters
- Michael Parks · Howard Howe; Justin Long · Wallace Bryton; Haley Joel Osment · Teddy Craft; Genesis Rodriguez · Ally Leon; Johnny Depp · Guy LaPointe
- Genres
- black comedy; body horror
- Themes
- obsession; identity
- Tone and mood
- dark; grotesque
- Premise and plot tags
- body horror; serial killer; comedy
- Source material / true-story basis
- SModcast #259: The Walrus and The Carpenter
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews and has since become a minor cult film.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 45% · scale: percentage · review count: 136; Metacritic · score: 55 · scale: 100 · review count: 33
- Awards and nominations
- Midnight Madness People's Choice Award · first runner-up · nomination
- Production trivia
- The film was originally titled The Walrus & the Carpenter.; The film was originally going to be produced by Blumhouse Productions.; The film features a soundtrack including a song by Fleetwood Mac.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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