RELEASING: Magnet Releasing

CREW: Director/Editor – Jason Eisner; Screenplay – John Davies; Producers - Rob Cotterill, Niv Fichman, & Frank Siracusa; Cinematographer - Karim Hussain; Score - Adam Burke, Darius Holbert, & Russ Howard III; Production Designer - Ewen Dickson; Costume Designer - Sarah Dunsworth; Visual Effects Supervisor - Noel Hooper; Creator of “The Plague”- Jason Johnson;

CAST: RUTGER HAUER... Hobo; MOLLY DUNSWORTH... Abby; BRIAN DOWNEY... Drake; ROBB WELLS... Logan; GREGORY SMITH... Slick; NICK BATEMAN... Ivan; DREW O'HARA... Otis; PASHA EBRAHIMI... Bumfight Filmmaker; JEREMY AKERMAN... Chief of Police.

SYNOPSIS: It’s the end of the line and as the train pulls into the station a Hobo (HAUER) jumps from a freight car. Hoping for a fresh start in a new city he instead finds himself trapped in an urban hell. It is a city where criminals rule the streets and Drake (DOWNEY), the city's crime boss, reigns supreme with his sadistic and murderous sons, Slick (SMITH) & Ivan (BATEMAN). When city attempts to grind the Hobo under its merciless heal, he is rescued by Abby (DUNSWORTH), the hooker with a heart of gold. She gives him hope amidst the chaos. When the Hobo comes across a pawn shop window displaying a second hand lawn mower he dreams of making the city a beautiful place and starting a new life for himself. But when the brutality continues to rage around him, he notices a shotgun hanging above the lawn mower. He suddenly realizes the only way to make a difference in this town is with that gun in his hand and two shells in its chamber.

REVIEW: Here’s the deal, what do you think you are going to see when you buy a ticket for a film called HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN? If you have any illusions other then a grind house/exploitation film, you’ve just wasted your money. However, if you go in fully aware of the genre then strap yourself in tight for a wickedly delightful treat that is the kind of film Troma Films might have made if the had both the budget and the talent.

With a film like HOBO be prepared to get wet! Come on, the word “shotgun” in the title warns you that this is going to be a gory and moist film. The special effects are about 90% on the money. There are a few rare moments where the seasoned genre film goers will see the effect for what it is, but it’s so rare that it doesn’t take the viewer out of the tale and is something you’ll acknowledge more in hindsight. Likewise, there are a few small drops in magic in other areas that are noticeable but not detracting. The only element that wasn’t on par with the rest of the film, I felt, was the score. It’s okay but at times it’s so loud and in your face that it just sounds like the score working over time to be noticed over all the other elements of the film.

Getting beyond all that, director, screenwriter, cinematographer, cast, and the rest of the team all come together to deliver on satisfying guilty pleasure. Right from the beginning the cinematography sets the tone. I enjoyed Hussain’s work in creating the hyper reality for the narrative. Its similar to the change from black and white to color in “The Wizard of Oz.” Hey, you are not in Kansas any more! Eisner has a keen understanding of Davies’s screenplay. There are moments where the duo come together to bring out poignant moments that I’ve never experienced to this degree in a exploitation film before. In particular, those moments come between Hauer and his costar Dunsworth, and I believe those moments earned HOBO a slot at both the 2011 Sundance and SXSW Film Festivals. As you experience those a revelation emerges, Eisner is not just a filmmaker who is destined to toil in “B” genre films, he has a keen eye for picking out moments were he can elevate the material or taking it in an unexpected direction, a sign of a gifted filmmaker. Once those moments pass, usually followed by the kinetic performances of the rest of cast, you find yourself questioning the emotional response you just experienced a result of his cinematic slight of hand.

When you consider that Shakespeare was writing his plays as entertainment for the unwashed masses of his time, HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN has a lot in common with the Bard’s tragedies. True, none of his characters ever wielded a shotgun, but his plays had their share of crazed villains and buckets of blood. While HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN is not exactly “Macbeth” or “Hamlet,” Eisner and Hauer push the film further up the hill towards those loftier goals then any other film of its kind. And whether HOBO is or isn’t your cup of tea, Jason Eisner is absolutely a name to be on the watch for.

HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN official website – www.magnetreleasing.com/hobowithashotgun

**Based on the regular $13.00 ticket prices at a Manhattan Theater.