Hobo with a Shotgun
Dir: Jason Eisener
2011
****
Machete is proof that there is life in the Grindhouse/Exploitation game and in many respects Hobo with a Shotgun is superior, mainly because not much was expected of it. It works because it sticks to its exploitation roots and then goes one further. It doesn't play for laughs and it doesn't rely on cameos either. This is the Child (Grandchild?) of Romero, Carpenter, Trenchard-Smith, early Peter Jackson to mention but a few, Rutger Hauer alone packs enough Grindhouse/Exploitation kudos for it to work. Like the Grindhouse project set out to do, this film recreates a film of a very different genre and does it exceptionally well, like it or not, this is one film that ticks all the boxes of what it set out to achieve. I liked it for Rutger Hauer, the many tributes to great horror/Grindhouse/Exploitation classics, The Plague - who are the best villains in recent history by a long way (they need their own film) and for not holding back. Credit due.