Razorback (1984)

March 3, 2025 12:06 PM

[TRAILER] In the Australian outback, a vicious wild boar kills and causes havoc to a small community.

Starring Gregory Harrison, Arkie Whiteley, Bill Kerr, Chris Haywood, David Argue, Judy Morris, John Ewart, John Howard.

Directed by Russell Mulcahy (Highlander). Written by Everett De Roche. Based on the novel of the same name by Peter Brennan. Produced by Hal McElroy. Cinematography by Dean Semler. Edited by William M. Anderson. Music by Iva Davies.

58% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently streaming in the US on Hoopla. Find streaming options for your country/services on JustWatch.

posted by DirtyOldTown (8 comments total)

This is a solid killer animal movie elevated a bit by the unusual animal of choice (giant wild boar), the outback settings, and the excellent visual sense of Mulcahy, who, in addition to directing Highlander, also directed a huge number of famous music videos from the 1980s. Really, the photography is just amazing.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:07 PM on March 3 [3 favorites]

MURDER BOAR
posted by Kitteh at 12:15 PM on March 3 [3 favorites]

I saw this on Umbrella Entertainment's 4K disc and it was a good choice. It's not the greatest film, but it is good fun and the best part are the visuals, which clearly helped net Mulcahy some of the subsequent job offers. A killer boar movie has no business looking this great.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:28 PM on March 3 [1 favorite]

I'd always associated "razorback" as an American term for feral hogs, so kinda fun to see it in use in Australia. They would find a surprisingly reliable customer base in the merch shops in and around the University of Arkansas.
posted by Atreides at 1:50 PM on March 3

I remember my dad talking about this movie when I was a kid. One night about a decade ago Nitehawk played it. I had never seen it before, and I was expecting cheesy silliness from my dad's description of it. I was not prepared for what I saw. Love this movie.
posted by miss-lapin at 1:56 PM on March 3 [1 favorite]

Razorback is great and lot of fun. Russell Mulcahy I thought always had an engaging style.

Can someone refresh my memory - is Gregory Harrison's character a Canadian? I have a weird memory of this but I think I might be wrong.
posted by Ashwagandha at 3:23 PM on March 3

He's American but as part of his attempt to seem unconnected to the American journalist (his wife he is trying to find out what happened to) he tells the asshole kangaroo hunters Benny and Dicko that he is Canadian.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:33 PM on March 3 [1 favorite]

Ah... I knew there was a Canadian reference in there somewhere.
posted by Ashwagandha at 6:22 PM on March 3