Tusk (2014) Revisited – Horror Movie Review

INTRO: Is man indeed a walrus at heart? That’s the question Kevin Smith sought to answer with his 2014 horror film Tusk, a wild and weird movie that was inspired by a hoax classified ad and workshopped on a podcast. It features an insane Michael Parks, a scenery-chewing Johnny Depp, a walrus-human hybrid, and it’s the Best Horror Movie You Never Saw.

CREATORS / CAST: Filmmakers are often asked how they get their ideas. Tusk is a rare case where a filmmaker’s fans were able to hear the exact moment when inspiration struck. On June 25th, 2013, Kevin Smith sat down with his longtime friend and producer Scott Mosier to record an episode of their podcast, episode 259 of Smodcast, to be exact, and one of the things Smith decided to talk about on the show was a classified ad that had been brought to his attention. It was posted on the website Gumtree in the UK. An old man who had a long and interesting life had settled down in a large house and he was lonely. He was looking for a lodger, offering free room and board to anyone, as long as they were willing to spend two hours a day wearing the realistic walrus costume he had constructed. While in the costume, they were to behave like a walrus, make walrus sounds, and even eat the fish and crabs the old man would serve to them. The old man had spent three years alone on Saint Lawrence Island, where his only company was a walrus. It was the most fulfilling friendship he ever had, and he was looking to relive that experience, in a way, with his lodger.

Of course, this ad turned out to be a hoax, written and posted by a man named Chris Parkinson. But it hadn’t been confirmed to be a hoax yet when it was discussed on Smodcast, and while digging into the strange concept this ad presented, Smith began to see this as the makings of a body horror film. The story of someone undergoing a transformation into a walrus through forced surgeries performed by a madman. By the end of the podcast, he had decided that he should make this movie, because who else was going to make a walrus horror film? He asked listeners to vote on Twitter. If they wanted to see him bring the idea to life, tweet Hashtag Walrus Yes. If they didn’t, Hashtag Walrus No. The podcast episode was uploaded, and the next day, the amount of Walrus Yes votes was overwhelming. Fans had given the idea the greenlight. So, on June 28th, Smith started writing the script – which he titled Tusk and wrote while listening to the Fleetwood Mac song “Tusk” on repeat.

The story centers on Wallace, an American comedian and podcaster who specializes in cringe humor, making fun of people. His latest target is a Canada-based youngster featured in a viral video where he accidentally cuts his own leg off. Wallace mocks the kid’s misfortune… but he’ll get his comeuppance for that. Against the wishes of his girlfriend Ally, who feels he has lost his humanity since finding success through his podcast, Wallace catches a flight to Canada. He planned to interview the kid from the video, but he arrives just in time for the kid’s funeral. Stuck in Canada with nothing to do, Wallace chases another lead: an ad posted on a restroom wall. An old man has settled down in a Manitoba mansion after enjoying a long life at sea. He’s looking for a lodger, and he has stories to tell. So Wallace heads out to interview him. The old man is Howard Howe, and one of his stories involves him being shipwrecked long ago. While he waited for rescue, his only companion was a walrus he named Mister Tusk. Sadly, he had to kill and eat Mister Tusk to survive. He has been obsessing over that ever since. And has become a serial killer, capturing victims, surgically turning them into human-walrus hybrids, and giving these new versions of Mister Tusk a chance to fight for their survival. Howard drugs Wallace, removes his legs, sews him into a walrus costume made of human flesh, and gives him tusks, fashioned from his own leg bones. While these awful things are happening, Ally starts searching for Wallace with the help of his podcasting partner Teddy and Guy LaPointe, a former inspector from Québec who has been on Howard’s trail.

Michael Parks had played the villainous preacher at the heart of Smith’s previous film, Red State and had given an incredible performance. So, Smith brought Parks back to play the twisted Howard Howe, giving him another chance to play crazy and deliver monologues. Justin Long, who is a regular in both horror movies and Kevin Smith movies, was cast as Wallace, with Genesis Rodriguez as Ally, Haley Joel Osment as Teddy, and an uncredited Johnny Depp, wearing a prosthetic nose, as Guy LaPointe.

BACKGROUND: Smith’s first choice to play Guy LaPointe was Quentin Tarantino. Since he had first seen Michael Parks in From Dusk Till Dawn, which Tarantino wrote and acted in, and Tarantino was a fan of Red State, Smith thought he’d like to be in this new Michael Parks horror story. But Tarantino turned down the offer… and Smith later learned that he turned it down because he thought he was being asked to play the walrus man. Smith cast his own daughter Harley Quinn Smith as a convenience store clerk and had her share the screen with her friend Lily-Rose Depp, who happens to be the daughter of Johnny Depp. Since their kids were friends, Smith had Johnny Depp’s number, so he reached out to him about playing Guy LaPointe. Depp’s response: “How delicious! This seems like something I would love to swim around in. Color me intrigued.”

Smith finished the first draft of the script on July 16th. He pitched his low budget walrus horror movie to Blumhouse a couple of days later. Blumhouse was in, even though Universal Pictures, which they have a long-term production deal with, hated the script. Smith was hoping to get Tusk into production in September, aiming for a Sundance premiere the following January. For a moment, it looked like he was on track to do just that. Then Blumhouse pumped the brakes. They wanted Smith to cast Jesse Eisenberg as Wallace, as they felt he had great commercial appeal, and Eisenberg wouldn’t be available until January. Smith didn’t want to wait, plus he had Justin Long in mind for Wallace, so he stepped away from the Blumhouse deal. It was a decision that worked out, because Long helped make Tusk a deeper, more effective movie, working with Smith to add more content to the script dealing with what it is to be human and humane.

Smith was willing to sell his house to raise the money for Tusk, if necessary. But then Demarest Films stepped into provide the funding, and they were able to secure distribution through A24. Production began in North Carolina at the start of November, just four and a half months after the podcast recording where the idea first came up. It was too late to make the Sundance submission deadline, but at least the movie got made. A24 released it in September of 2014. It wasn’t a box office success. It made less than two million dollars worldwide. But it has gathered a cult following on home video, and is apparently popular among the art school crowd.

WHAT MAKES IT GREAT: After Justin Long first read the script, he told Smith, “I’m nauseated, I’m terrified, I’m thoroughly confused in the most entertained way.” Which is the same way many viewers have reacted to the finished film. You can probably tell, based on the basic description, whether or not the movie is for you. It’s a body horror film about a man being turned into a walrus. If that doesn’t sound appealing to you, you’ll likely be appalled by the movie. If that sounds like something that’s so crazy, you have to see it… Well, this is the best “man turns another man into a walrus” movie that could have ever been made.

Tusk works as well as it does because the lead actors fully committed to their roles. Wallace is a bit of a scumbag, but he doesn’t deserve what happens to him. He goes from an uncaring joker who cheats on his girlfriend and mocks people for a living to being terrified for his life, taken apart piece by piece. It’s difficult to imagine anyone living up to the performance Justin Long gives as the walrus, acting from inside a disgusting costume designed by special effects artist Robert Kurtzman. Michael Parks is fascinating as Howard Howe, expertly delivering his dialogue, revealing the emotional core of his character, who is completely insane but manages to hide it well. Most of the time. Genesis Rodriguez also gives an amazing performance as Wallace’s girlfriend, who is heartbroken that her boyfriend has become such a jerk… and has secretly retaliated by sleeping with Teddy behind his back.

Things get very dark and intense between Howard and Wallace. And just when the film reaches its darkest point, Johnny Depp’s Guy LaPointe enters the picture, feeling like he stepped in out of a different movie. Possibly a cartoon. Depp’s acting is goofy and ridiculous, but he brings a whole new energy to the movie.

BEST SCENE(S): And there’s a flashback scene where LaPointe interacts with Howard, who deflects suspicion by pretending to be mentally impaired, that has to be seen to be believed. It’s four and a half minutes of absurdity with an accordion soundtrack.

As with Red State, many of the best scenes in Tusk involve Michael Parks delivering dialogue. But he’s not the only one who gets to monologue in this movie. Johnny Depp has his when Guy LaPointe is introduced. Genesis Rodriguez was also given a monologue, which she recites while looking directly into the camera as it pushes in for a close-up and tears run down her face. It’s mind-blowing. Captivating. Devastating. It might be the single best scene in the movie.

Or, it would be, if the first full reveal of Wallace as the walrus wasn’t one of the best shots in cinema history. Horrific… and yet, at the same time, so shocking that it’s amusing. Much like the movie as a whole.

PARTING SHOT: While crafting Tusk, Smith started to envision a series of Canada-based horror stories. He called it the True North Trilogy. Even though Tusk wasn’t a box office success, he was able to make the second chapter in the trilogy: Yoga Hosers, about teen convenience store clerks battling Bratzis (foot tall Canadian Nazis made of sentient bratwurst with concentrated sauerkraut for blood). Yes, it’s even weirder than Tusk. And got a worse reception. But fans are still anxiously waiting for the third installment in this trilogy: Moose Jaws, about a killer moose terrorizing a summer camp.

We’re desperately hoping that Smith will get to make his moose movie someday. In the meantime, at least we have his crazy walrus movie to go back to and watch again and again. He had an idea for a movie about a man turning another man into a walrus… and he got it made. Very quickly. This movie actually exists, and we’re eternally grateful for it. Walrus Yes, forever.

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