Watched the films HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN and RUBBER this weekend.
HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN continues the trend started in Quentin Tarantino’s GRINDHOUSE of filming in the style of 70’s exploitation films not just the subject matter but the washed out colors and silly wardrobe and other 70’s setting pieces.
Truth is HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN is pretty good. It’s so ridiculous and over the top and clearly not meant to be taken seriously that one doesn’t mind the violence even scenes of a school bus full of kids being burned alive or a masturbating child molesting Santa Claus. There is a bit of social criticism in there too about haves and have nots. Rutger Hauer is perfect throughout whether in the role of avenging angel or just babbling random nonsense as he does most of the film.
The faux Grindhouse style invites in the viewer and sugarcoats the graphic violence with humor blurring the line between contributing to a genre and parody of a genre.
RUBBER on the other hand goes one step further and shows us an audience, a group of unconnected people with binoculars on a nearby hilltop who watch the plot of the film within a film unfold. The story is of an abandoned tire that gains some kind of intelligence as well as the ability to destroy things and people(mostly their heads) with burst of what I presume are psychic energy.
We are the voyeurs here even more so the than the in movie audience watching people’s heads explode. RUBBER is a truly bizarre film but after a little thought the point is clear. The audience has expectations....The audience doesn’t wish to be challenged!
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