This weekend I happened to catch new Grindhouse film somewhat unexpectedly. At a gathering to welcome home a friend someone lamented that the new movie “Hobo With a Shotgun” would be at a local theater later that night. After a quick check we discovered that it was available to watch On Demand for $7. I’ve never seen a room of people whip out their wallets that fast but within moments there was a small pile of money on the coffee table and we started watching “Hobo With a Shotgun”.

As you’d probably expect from a Grindhouse flick it was bloody, gory, and over the top with the violence and cheesy writing. And yet in that living room we groaned, laughed, cheered and even applauded at points. It’s the second full length film to be made from the fake trailers at the beginning of the Grindhouse double feature (the first being “Machete”) and stars Rutger Hauer as the Hobo. The basic plot is that the Hobo arrives in a crime-stricken town and almost immediately witnesses the horrors that a crime boss and his sons inflict and encourage. The Hobo later saves and even befriends a prostitute. Though he only wants to beg enough money to purchase a lawnmower he finds that he’s soon pushed to his breaking point and instead gets a shotgun.

The movie totally goes to extremes (would you expect any less?) with the depravity of the crime boss, his sons and their cronies. One of the sons, Slick, is played by an actor that I recognized but couldn’t immediately place. It wasn’t until a few days later that I realized he was the son that gets killed in the beginning of “The Patriot”. Totally a shock to see him in such a different role…that he plays to the hilt. And I don’t mean this in a bad way but Rutger Hauer makes an AMAZING Hobo.

All in all it was an awesome movie and one that I’m going to have to own in the near future. Have you seen it? What did you think of it?

Written by: Elf Writer