Review of Hobo with a Shotgun on blu-ray:

Movie: 4/5
In 2007 Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez set up an international “fake trailer” contest to promote their film “Grindhouse”. A canadian man named Jason Eisner heard about the contest and armed with $150 bucks, some willing actors, buckets of fake blood and a keen eye for 70’s exploitation cinema, he brought the world of youtube “Hobo with a Shotgun”, which went on to win the “fake trailer” contest, and was screened in some area’s of Canada as part of the actual release of Grindhouse. 

A vigilante homeless man pulls into a new city (Hope Town) and finds himself trapped in urban chaos, a city where crime rules and is ruled with an iron fist by The Drake and his sadistic sons Ivan and Slick. Seeing an urban landscape filled with armed robbers, corrupt cops, abused prostitutes and even a paedophile Santa, the Hobo goes about bringing justice to the city the best way he knows how - with a 20-gauge shotgun. Mayhem ensues when he tries to make things better for the future generation.

Hobo with a Shotgun is the second of the trailers for Grindhouse to be made into a feature length film, Machete being the first which had a budget over three times larger than Hobo with a Shotgun. In my opinion though, Hobo is superior to Machete.
Both are really enjoyable, fun movies, but the story and visual elements are more original in Hobo than in Machete.

This is not what you would call a “good” film. It’s cheesy as hell, super violent and pretty damn absurd in nature, but that is balanced nicely by the always wonderful Rutger Hauer playing the hobo who brings genuine heart, emotion and power to the table.
Hobo is the kind of character you can root for, who you can call a hero!
 
Molly Dunsworth plays Abby, one of the towns prostitutes. Molly’s acting isn’t top notch, or even that great but I really liked her, and cared about her character. I doubt she will ever be a big name star, but I can easily see her becoming kinda like Danielle Harris, in the sense that neither are great actors, but both always manage to make their characters likeable in low budget horror films. I hope to see more from her in the horror and exploitation genre.

Picture Quality: 4.5/5 
I was expecting this to be shot on a 16mm camera considering the budget and look of the original trailer, which I’m sure would have worked nicely given the nature of the film but Hobo with a shotgun was actually shot digitally with a Red Mysterium X Camera System. Something I’m thankful for, is that gratuitous scratches, jitters, burns and blips weren’t added like it was in Grindhouse. I loved that look, but I’m really glad that this first time director didn’t try to replicate Grindhouse’s look in an effort to draw in more of an audience, and instead went in a different direction, and drenched Hobo with a Shotgun in an over-saturated appearence, scratch that… INSANELY saturated appearence with an intentionally garish colour scheme filled with blood so red that it’s practically crayola red and bright neon lights that rip through your television screen and melt on your very face before dripping down your violated, naked body (maybe I was the only one watching this movie naked…).

I’m also happy to report that there this movie doesn’t look overly digital since digital noise seems to of been added in post production to give it a more filmic look. If that weren’t added, I think it may have ended up looking too cartoonish.

Rutger Hauer’s stubble looks glorious in high definition. YOU CAN SEE EVERY SINGLE HAIR ON HIS FACE. 

Audio Quality: 4/5 
The audio in this release is also suprisingly fantastic, given the limited budget of the film. Music, gunshot blasts and the surround speakers are used frequently to add ambiance and style to the film, while also being used for distant screams and unseen blasts. There’s some 70’s wah-wah guitar, wobbly synthesizer arpeggio’s, square wave bass, plenty of machine drum tom-tom fills, but most of the film emulates the John Carpenter 80’s horror scores of the 80’s. You’ll get great use out of your bass when Hobo’s shotgun goes off.

Extra’s: 4.5/5 
Hobo with a shotgun comes packed full of exciting special features including the following:

-Shotgun Mode
When you play the film with Shotgun Mode activated, a target reticule will occasionally appear on the screen. Press enter on your remote and you’ll be taken to various clips that look at costuming, practical gore effects, interviews with the actors and extra’s and general on-set behind the scenes footage

-Shotgun Mode Clips (106+ minutes)
While Shotgun Mode is fun, many of you (myself included) don’t like to be interrupted during the watching of a movie, so all 44 clips from “Shotgun Mode” are available to watch seperately here.

-2 Audio Commentaries
The first is with Director Jason Eisner and leading man Rutger Hauer
The second is with Jason Eisner, writer John Davies, producer Rob Cotterill and David Brunt (the original Hobo from the original trailer)

-More blood, More heart: The Making of Hobo with a Shotgun (45+ minutes)
An extensive documentary that covers pretty much every element of the making of this movie, from the creation of the original trailer, to the premiere at Sundance. This is a great doco, I really liked that it captures the sheer exuberance of a bunch of young film fans who got the chance to make their own movie. That’s a really cool thing to see.

-Deleted scenes (6+ minutes)
Two transitional scenes plus general unused footage 

-Alternate Endings (33 seconds)
Here we are introduced to the newest member of “The Plague”

-Video Blogs
Nine short jokey video blogs that were originally shown on the Hobo website while it was being made. Each clip runs about 30 seconds to 2 minutes

-Camera Test Reel (3.5 minutes)
Test footage of the RED camera

-Fangoria Interviews (44.5 minutes)
Jason Eisner and Ruger Hauer sit down seperately to discuss the making of the film

-HDNet: A Look at Hobo with a Shotgun (5+ minutes)
This would be a typical HDNet promo had it weren’t for Jason Eisner and Rutger Hauer appear for their interview in bed together for some reason.

-Grindhouse Trailer Contest Winner: Hobo with a Shotgun (2+ minutes)
The trailer that started it all!

-Hobo with a Shotgun Faux Trailer Contest Winner: Van Gore (2+ minutes)
Hobo held it’s own fake trailer contest, and the winner’s trailer is about a man that literally paints the town red with blood.

-Redband U.S Theatrical Trailers (4+ minutes)

-Canadian TV Spots (1+ minutes)

Overall:
Fans of exploitation cinema will likely froth over this movie like I did. It’s ridiculous, disgusting, it’s suprisingly original, and has fantastic characters. Rutger Hauer shines in his performance as Hobo!
The blu-ray kicks fucking ass! It looks great, sounds great, and the extra’s as you can see come by the bucket full. It’s like high defintion filmed in the 70’s!
Definitely recommended for anyone interested in this film and those who have already seen it and enjoyed it!