Tusk is one of those films that I’ve been aware of for a long while. I’ve known the major plot points for years. I’ve known the twists and turns. I’ve known it was written and directed by Kevin Smith based on an idea that was discussed during a podcast about a man who is surgically transformed into a walrus by a serial killer. The opportunity for me to finally see how well the interesting premise could be executed only happened recently. The question for me was, with all the extra knowledge I had before seeing the film, would I still find the end product to be entertaining?

Pros

Johnny Depp and Michael Parks steal every scene they’re in
Some good humor in spots that are far funnier than what the characters consider to be funny
Makeup effects and costume for Justin Long and his transformation look good
Moments with some good tension

Cons

Some humor does not land
There’s a lot of setup with little payoff for certain sub-plots

Plot & Thoughts

Wallace Bryton (Justin Long) and Teddy Craft (Haley Joel Osment) run a comedy podcast—not-so-cleverly named the “Not-See Party”—in which Wallace travels to different parts of the world to interview oddball people and then tells his experience to Teddy on the air. After thoroughly mocking a person called the “Kill Bill Kid” for the katana kata he performed in his garage (clearly referencing the real viral video “Star Wars kid” from the early days of viral internet videos), and for the fact that this amateur sword dance lead to the kid’s dismemberment, Wallace decides he wants to go meet and interview the unfortunate amputee. He travels up to Canada to see if he can meet with him, but his plans are immediately changed when he gets there. Having likely suffered a tidal wave of mocking embarrassment from the rest of the world, thanks in small part to people like Wallace, the Kill Bill kid killed himself.

—A small side note, but just in writing up this paragraph alone, I wonder if this movie’s setup would even be greenlit today by a movie studio when you consider all the trigger warnings that would be necessary to include in the opening credits.

Wallace, the philanthropic humanist that he is, is thoroughly miffed at the fact he came all the way to Canada for nothing and is ready to go home when he comes across a notice in a bathroom from an old man claiming to have countless interesting stories to tell. Wallace accepts the invitation, heads out to the middle of nowhere, and naively sips some tea while the old man, Howard Howe (Michael Parks), tells stories that may or may not have been true. As you might suspect, this is where the horror starts. What follows is a series of scenes in which Howard acts more and more deranged and Wallace begins his transformation into the walrus, karmically starting with a leg amputation as though he were a Kill Bill kid himself. From the point he’s initially knocked out, the story splits between Wallace’s captivity and his friends trying to rescue him.

Tusk is approximately 100 minutes long and things move at a decent pace. However, over the course of the second half of the film are scenes that intersperse the active events of the plot in which we get more backstory on Wallace or on his girlfriend, Ally (Genesis Rodriguez). It’s in these moments that we learn from the dialogue that Wallace wasn’t always a heartless jerk. Apparently, he was a sensitive nerd when they first started dating years ago, but he eventually changed his personality to “man up” and now Ally is emotionally torn about their relationship. The purpose of these scenes and why they’re included in the later portion of the film in which Wallace is held hostage by Howard Howe is fairly obvious.

Up to this point in the movie, we’ve only seen Wallace as a selfish ass, so we as the audience wouldn’t feel much sympathy for what’s about to happen to him. Adding these moments acts as both a method of cutting from one scene to another, as well as a way to humanize him so you are still attached to the characters. However, It didn’t really feel necessary to me. Yes, Wallace is a character you’re supposed to dislike, but that didn’t keep me from being interested in what happens to him. The scenes in which Ally pours out her emotions, or fills in the backstory on the Wallace of the past could have been cut and nothing would have ultimately changed. There’s a whole subplot regarding her relationship with Teddy as well that really doesn’t amount to anything. When they find out that Wallace is in trouble, they both are ready to help without hesitation, and all the heartfelt conflict they seem to have about him goes away. That’s not to say it isn’t realistic that people would put aside their differences to help a friend in trouble, but in a movie, it felt like there was a lot of setup and no payoff for that part of the plot.

All that being said, I still enjoyed Tusk for two primary reasons: Michael Parks and Johnny Depp. Michael Parks as the deranged Howard Howe grabs your attention every time he’s on screen. When we first meet him, he comes across as a tired old man with some darkness lurking beneath the surface, but as the film progresses and we get to see more of him, the hinges of his personality start coming off. He snickers when telling Wallace lies about what happened to his leg. He mimics his screams of terror, similar to Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs. In some scenes, he has a calm intensity that is suitable for the monster of a horror movie. In other scenes, he’s a total joke. It works very well at his performance a captivating one.

Likewise, Johnny Depp as the inspector Guy Lapointe from the French-speaking region of Canada steals every scene he’s in. A lot of the dry humor is written around Lapointe and Depp’s deadpan delivery helps with it immensely. While none of the jokes made me laugh out loud, the humor that came with every scene in which Depp was on screen was enough to elevate the film overall. Tusk is relegated into the comedy category along with horror when you look it up on IMDB, but I would say, apart from the brief interaction Wallace has with the Canada airport security, I didn’t start to really enjoy the humor of the film until Depp showed up. And even though it’s a horror film, with grotesque images around the inevitable walrus transformation, there is no real gore to be found here, so you can relax if that stuff makes you queasy.

TL;DR

Tusk is neither a laugh-out-loud comedy nor is it a horror film filled with tension. Yet, it still manages to entertain with its charm, solid acting, and deadpan humor. I have some issues with how the film is edited and some sub-plots that don’t amount to much, but it’s a unique horror film in that it manages to take a somewhat absurd plot and still hit the mark. While horror movies with similarly absurd plots might fail to reign in their absurdity, I think Tusk manages to walk the line just fine.

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