A beloved 80s cult film - the review site Oz Movies says its perhaps the best of the Ozsploitation films of the 10BA era. I'm not sure I'd agree - Roadgames, Patrick and Long Weekend would match it at least.
But it is easy to see it's appeal to cultists - the title, the concept, the imported American star, Judy Morris' American accent, Bill Kerr's emoting in the opening sequence, Everett de Roche writing the script, the stylish video clip imagery, Iva Davies' score, the duelling banjos act of David Argue and Chris Haywood, the fake pig.
It doesn't work as a film, though, not really. I remember really looking forward to this when it came out and being disappointed - and watching it years later it's still disappointing. You want it to be good - I mean, a film about a killer pig, who doesn't instinctively love that? - and there are great moments, but overall it doesn't come together.
Sometimes spotting what's wrong with a film is easier. Am fully aware this is wisdom in hindsight but I do like the play the game "how would I have fixed this?" With Razorback it was trickier.
Story seems to be number one. All the elements are there for a good movie, but it doesn't come together. Greg Harrison is a bit bland but he has a bland character to play. I was unsure what his character was - he doesn't have any special skills, I was unclear even what his job was. Why not make him a doctor? Or an accountant completely out of his depth? It was also a mistake to have him chop up a kangaroo.
Bill Kerr's character on the other hand is fantastic. Captain Ahab out to get his Moby Dick, the Razorback. Kerr's emoting in the opening sequence is poor and completely over the top (in a bad way) but once he relaxes (or, rather, intensifies) into tormented vengeance seeker, he's awesome - full of hate and fury. But once the film sets up this driven Razorback hater full of potential they don't really do anything with it. There's lots of potential - he could say clash with Gregory Harrison over how to get revenge... Or he could have endangered Arkie Whiteley by his actions? Or the townsfolk? Most of all he should have been given a spectacular finish, being killed doing real battle with the Razorback. Instead the filmmakers throw him in a shed, defenseless and weak, and he gets gored to pieces without putting up any sort of fight. It's depressing - they completely cut his balls off. Maybe they were trying to subvert tropes, but it just made me feel bad for the guy.
David Argue and Chris Haywood are brilliant as the dodgy meat operators - loathsome, but funny villains. But are they too loathsome? Argue tries to rape Judy Morris and tries to kill Bill Kerr. They overtake the film to a large degree - it really should be about a killer razorback but these two keep pulling focus. They even deliberately run over a dog just to be mean - the razorback is never that mean. Sure he gorges people but he can't help it - unlike these two. As a result you get more upset about the two brothers, which maybe wouldn't be a problem but the brothers are all over the last act. It's as if the mayor of Amity went along on the final shark hunting trip in Jaws.
Director Russell Mulcahy and DOP Dean Semler have come up with some amazing images - characters traipsing across the desert, dead animals in the mud, people listening to ghetto blasters on the back of camels, etc (there's a lot of artists on the soundtrack who Mulchay did the video clips for - Duran Duran, Elton John, etc). But a lot of the choreography of the scenes don't make sense. I wasn't exactly sure how Gregory Harrison wound up the top of a windmill, or how Chris Haywood wound up in a mine with Harrison having control of him, or what happened to Arke Whiteley in the final battle (how did she end up tangled in those chains), or what was going on in that final battle. The scenes involving the Razorback are loud and destructive rather than suspenseful and/or scary .
Let's take a walk on the sunny side. I loved the performances, the visuals, and Iva Davies' score. I love the ambition of the film. Arkie Whiteley is gorgeous - not a fantastic actor, but very pretty and likeable. The locations are amazing. I truly wish it was a better film. I wish Everett de Roche had had a strong co-writer to elevate his fabulous ideas.
But it is different - it sticks out. It promised a more interesting career from Russell Mulcahy than the one that eventuated.
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