Hobo with a Shotgun

When a nameless vagrant (Rutger Hauer) arrives in the curiously named “Hope Town” he is appalled at the widespread corruption and chaos that plagues its streets. Robberies and murders are commonplace, prostitution is rife, drugs seem to be the only currency and children are hounded by a paedophile dressed as Santa in the city where mob boss Drake (Brian Downey) and his sadistic sons arouse fear and encourage violence. Whilst embroiled in a hold up in a pawnshop, our homeless hero must make a choice: ride out the robbery, buy a lawnmower and realise his dream of making an honest living, or equip himself with a 12 gauge shotgun and administer his own brand of justice, cleaning the streets one scumbag at a time (fortunately, both are conveniently priced at $49.99). Needless to say he opts for the latter, cleaving a bloody path to Drake (who declares war on homeless people), expending countless shotgun shells on the way and befriending a feisty prostitute with a knack for attracting trouble.

Starting off as a fake trailer entered in a contest designed to promote Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s joint enterprise Grindhouse, Hobo with a Shotgun joined Machete this year in being made into a full length feature. Eisener’s homage to low-budget exploitation movies of the 80s is jam packed with the sort of overblown, aestheticized violence you would expect to see in a Tarantino film as the brilliant Hauer dishes out payback ruthlessly in his role as the homeless vigilante.

As the name suggests, Hobo with a Shotgun isn’t the most sophisticated movie of all time, but rookie director Eisener brings to the table an unruly display of action and gore that refuses to take itself too seriously in a picture that both Tarantino and Rodriguez would be proud of.

James Cook