What better way to spend the weekend than with a tale of revenge involving a blood-thirsty razorback boar?

Based on the novel by Peter Brennan, Russel Mulcahly’s Razorback (1984) tells the stories of Beth and Carl Winters, a couple separated by the titular boar, and Jake Cullen, a broken man framed for murder after our razorback kills his grandson. Carl and Jake team up early in the film to investigate the disappearance of Beth during her investigation of a pet food factory. Jake theorizes that he knows what’s happened to Carl’s wife, alluding to his experience with a particular boar out for blood. What follows is a part-conspiracy, part-hunt which implicates the owners of the pet food factory as being responsible for Beth’s disappearance and soon leads to a standoff between Carl and the Razorback.

Between all of this horror, suspense, and intrigue lies an Australian effort at producing familiar American B-movie shlock. Razorback is, at its best, the sort of film Jaws accidentally became through use of a limited animatronic, and by virtue of a sincerity rarely found in these sort of bizarre tales. As for why Coolidge Corner selected this film for After Midnite: Well, it’s obvious once a viewer engages with Razorback that it fails to capture the same self-aware, yet thrilling essence as Jaws. Instead, we’re left with some fascinating visuals, horrendous bad-but-good acting, and a plot so unrelatable you’d think this story was cooked up by someone in a drug-induced coma.

If anything, watch Razorback for its flaws and revel in the madness it tries to present as reality. Also, keep an eye out for the work of Dean Semler, Director of Photography for such films as Mad Max 2, though it’s not really clear if his touch was a blessing or a stain upon this horrible masterpiece.

Razorback
1984
dir. Russell Mulcahy
95 min.

Friday, 8/5 @ 11:59PM
Saturday, 8/6 @ 11:59PM

Part of the ongoing series: After Midnite with the Boston Yeti
35mm