Hobo with a Shotgun

"Delivering justice, one shell at a time..."

2011 1h 26m EN

😐

5.9

MID

★5.9TMDB · 720

CrimeActionThriller

Synopsis

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A vigilante homeless man pulls into a new city and finds himself trapped in urban chaos, a city where crime rules and where the city's crime boss reigns. Seeing an urban landscape filled with armed robbers, corrupt cops, abused prostitutes and even a pedophile 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. Street justice will indeed prevail.

“Delivering justice, one shell at a time...”

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Cast

Rutger Hauer
Hobo
Molly Dunsworth
Abby
Gregory Smith
Slick
Robb Wells
Logan
Brian Downey
The Drake
Nick Bateman
Ivan / Rip
Peter Simas
Grinder
Pasha Ebrahimi
Bumfight Filmaker

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jason Eisener
Writers: John Davies
Languages: English
Countries: Canada, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

86 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $3.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 25% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 15 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Canada, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jason Eisener, shot by Karim Hussain. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Russ Howard III. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Rutger Hauer and Molly Dunsworth and Gregory Smith carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jason Eisener directs. Karim Hussain behind the camera. Russ Howard III scores. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Canada, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

186 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $3.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Earned back only 25% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
4Released 15 years ago.
5International production across 2 countries: Canada, United States of America.
6Directed by Jason Eisener, shot by Karim Hussain. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Russ Howard III. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Rutger Hauer and Molly Dunsworth and Gregory Smith carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Delivering justice, one shell at a time...".
10IMDB entry: tt1640459 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 12 themes, including "prostitute", "shotgun", "dystopia", "pimp".

The technical file

Cinematography: Karim Hussain
Original score: Russ Howard III
Production design: Ewen Dickson
Costume design: Sarah Dunsworth
Makeup / hair: Zane Knisely
VFX supervisor: Noel Hooper
Sound: Robert Warchol
Stunt coordinator: Randy Boliver
Runtime: 86 min · 1h 26m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $3,000,000
Box office: $748,453
Return: 25% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Hobo with a Shotgun (2011)

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Jason Eisener

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What people are saying

John Chard2019-01-26
★ 8/10
Joyous Outrageous Trash. Hobo with a Shotgun is directed by Jason Eisener and written by John Davies. It stars Rutger Hauer, Brian Downey, Gregory Smith, Molly Dunsworth, Robb Wells and Nick Bateman. Music is by Alexander Rosborough and cinematography by Karim Hussain. A homeless hobo (Hauer) hitches a freight train lift into Hope Town and finds a city imploding with corruption, violence, drugs and sexual deviance. Initially trying to keep out of the way and get on with his meagre existence, the hobo finally cracks and decides he can no longer sit back and watch such lawlessness. Helping himself to a shotgun from the local pawn shop, hobo goes on a one man killing crusade. Born out of a trailer that accompanied the original full release of Rodriguez/Tarrantino's Grindhouse venture, Hobo with a Shotgun is horror exploitation made with abundant glee. Blending Death Wish like vigilantism with 70s and 80s styled schlock, Jason Eisener has crafted an utterly tasteless, yet wonderfully entertaining piece of cinema. Violence is broad and completely bloody, as heads are exploded, bodies punctured and characters killed in a series of increasingly strange ways, while the characters that inhabit Hope Town are downright nasty and equally as weird. From bully boy Tom Cruise homage brother bastards Ivan & Slick, to a paedophile Santa Claus, and on to The Plague -two metal suited fetish killers sent to take out the hobo - it's welcome to bizarreville for sure. It's all driven by a great turn from Hauer, who manages to play it with raw and subtle emotion, even as the rage takes control of him and he deals death as surely as he delivers a memorable line. Around him are a bunch of no mark actors, but this works in the films' favour, the material doesn't need star wattage to drive the motors, besides which, you will undoubtedly come out of the film remembering the characters these actors have played rather than the actors in the garbs. Shot in suitably lurid Technicolor by Hussain and featuring an on the money score by Rosborough, all the elements for a Grindhouse feature fall into place. This basically does what the title suggests it will, yes it may at times veer towards crassness, and what social comment depth intended gets lost as Eisener gets carried away with the carnage. But under examination this is a whole bunch of fun that's made for adults who remember the movies from a past decade that this homages and parodies with devilish aplomb. 8/10

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