Movie Review- Tusk

Tusk is the latest work put out by one of my favorite people in cinema, Kevin Smith. It's his second foray into the horror genre, and I have to say that for me, the second time was the charm.
Turk is not a great movie by any means. It's a movie about a man being turned into a walrus by a lunatic. It's hard to take that premise and really make anything too artistic or highbrow. It is possible to take that idea and make something slightly nauseating though.
The story focuses on Justin Long as Wallace, a sort of douchey, sort of hipster with a bad mustache and a shock jock-ish podcast. His partner in crime is Teddy, played by Haley Joel Osment, a chubby best friend type who is also sleeping with Wallace's girlfriend (played by Ally Leon in one of my least favorite roles in the film). Wallace is on the hunt for a good story for his podcast when his adventures take him deep into Manitoba Canada, where he meets an old man named Howard Howe (Michael Parks), who is full of stories to share. However, it turns out Howe is also a lunatic obsessed with walruses, and a serial killer to boot.
Wallace falls into Howes evil clutches and as he begins the painful transformation from man to beast, it is left to his girlfriend and best friend to track him down and save him. This is done with the hekp of one of the best characters in the film, Guy Lapointe, an ex cop from Quebec played to great affect by Johnny Depp. Depp is easily one of the best parts of the movie, his accent is ridiculous and his mannerisms add a lot of fun to a sort of gorey story.

Tusk shines the most when Justin Long is on screen. He starts as an unlikable asshole and ends as a disgusting, sort of walrus like flesh lump. If you are a fan of body horror and over the top b movie effects, this movie is worth a watch. The walrus costume the team designed for this movie is sort of a work of art. A giant, lumpy, patchwork affair made of various human parts cut apart and sewn  backtogether in a rather haphazard looking way. Also, Wallace spend most of his time as a walrus drooling, crying, oozing and making noises like a gutted cow.
As a long time horror movie fan, and someone very into the body horror sub genre, I was pleased to note a faint feeling of queasiness while watching this. It's not a great film, but it does what it needs to do, it makes me feel a little grossed out, and after some of the movies I've seen, that is a feat in and of itself.
So, go see the movie. I give it a solid 3.5/5. Go see it just for Depp, or just for the walrus suit, but go see it.