a_chinn If you watch one giant killer pig movie, make it Razorback! Directed by Russell Mulcahy (director of "Highlander" and just about every early 80s music video you can remember ["Rio", "True", "Video Killed the Radio Star", "I'm Still Standing", etc...]), this minor Ozploitation classic has a vicious wild boar wreaking havoc upon a small community in the Australian outback. At first, no one believes that a giant pig is behind the deaths and mayhem, but the community slowly begins to discover the truth and are forced to deal with this angel of death in the form of a massive animatronic killer pig (well, it's supposed to be a live pig, but it's portrayed by a sweet looking giant pig puppet). This film is, of course, complete nonsense, but it's wildly fun nonsense. "Jaws" is the pinnacle of this sort of nature-gone-wild type of film, and "Razorback" is nowhere in that same league, but I'd argue that it's a minor classic on the level of "Piranha" or "Alligator." The films stars Gregory Harrison of "Trapper John, M.D." fame and was shot by Oscar winning cinematographer Dean Semler, so it's a quality made exploitation film. Overall, "Razorback" will absolutely entertain fans of these sorts of films (meaning if a giant killer pig running amok does not sound like a quality film premise, "Razorback" is probably not for you).

pete-872-510855 I only wish more reviewers would have actually rated this movie, rather than just reviewing it with no score given. It is a deadset classic of the Ozploitation cult movie genre... basically involving fairly low-budget flicks taking advantage of government Arts Council funding to churn out a vast range of sex romps and action/thriller/horror films - most of which should be deservedly desecrated.Razorback, however, finds director Russell Mulcahy (of Highlander fame) in devastating form. It lacks the gratuitous female nudity and American star-power of most films in the genre, but surpasses them all with eye-catching cinematography and consistently outstanding visuals. The story itself might be a bit pedestrian, but who really cares when everything else looks so good? As an Ozploitation starting point, check out the documentary 'Not Quite Hollywood', where Quentin Tarantino explains why he thinks the genre's movies are something special. One or two of the lesser-known titles even managed to win prestigious international awards. The Mad Max films, of course, were all hits. For pure viewer satisfaction, however, it is hard to go past Razorback as a classic of the genre.

ebiros2 From the title of this move, you might suspect that it takes place in Arkansas in the Ozarks. But no, this movie takes place in Australia, and American actor Gregory Harrison plays the lead.The production of this move is not bad. Movie captures the atmosphere of Australian outback pretty well. But as the movie progressed, I started to hate this movie more and more. Why ? because the movie is not much about the razorback, but stupid humans trying to kill each other.It's well known by now, that using a robot animal to play a convincing role in a movie is pretty difficult from experience of director Steven Spielberg's "JAWS". So what happens in these lower budget animal horror flicks is that you hardly ever see the actual creature. And even when it appears, it's a dodgy shot in darkness with small part of animal shown or just the shadow of it is shown moving around.Unfortunately this movie falls right into this category.So there's not much meat to the story, and lot of fillers. Less than 1 minutes, of the actual hog is seen in this movie. Too bad because this movie had pretty good production to it.

Scott LeBrun Based on the novel by Peter Brennan, and scripted by the then prolific Everett De Roche, the horror movie "Razorback" works well in terms of shocks yet also has an undeniable sense of humour to it as well. It doesn't always take itself too seriously, which is nice. Its single most fascinating and effective aspect is the way it shows off the Outback landscape, showing it as both a beautiful and scary place.The story proper kicks off when Beth Winters (Judy Morris), an animal rights activist / reporter, travels to the Outback to cover a story about kangaroo slaughter. Instead she meets and becomes a meal for an enormous, ferocious wild boar - a boar that had already snacked on an infant and destroyed a house in the pre-credits sequence. Beths' husband Carl (TV veteran Gregory Harrison) goes to Australia himself to find out what had happened and ends up having to help the locals vanquish the beast.As directed by Russell Mulcahy, who went on to helm "Highlander", "Razorback" is at its best when basking in the atmosphere inherent to this wilderness. When Carl is abandoned by trouble making jerks the Baker brothers (Chris Haywood, David Argue), and has to make a trek across the countryside, there are some truly great and surreal moments. The cinematography by Dean Semler, who had shot "The Road Warrior", and who went on to tremendous success in Hollywood, is truly impressive. Location work is excellent, as well, and Iva Davies' music is perfect accompaniment to the action. The makeup effects and rampaging razorback are the work of Bob McCarron (whose other credits include "The Road Warrior", "Howling III", "Dead Alive", and "The Matrix") and crew. This is an enjoyably grisly and visceral movie and doesn't skimp on thrills.The acting is solid - Harrison is fine as an average guy & unlikely sort of hero, the lovely and appealing Arkie Whiteley, who sadly died way too young, is a joy as female lead Sarah, Bill Kerr solidly convincing as the vengeance minded old boar hunter, and Haywood and Argue appropriately repulsive as the human antagonists.Overall, this is a good deal of fun that puts its own spin on the entire "nature strikes back" sub genre that was especially popular in the '70s after the success of "Jaws". For those who may scoff at the thought of a giant killer pig movie, it's more entertaining than one might think and as said is not playing everything 100% straight faced anyway. Horror fans are advised to give it a shot.Seven out of 10.