I would consider myself a big horror movie fan. From physiological to the run-of-the-mill slasher, I can find something enjoyable in any subgenre of horror. And so I thought that the film, “Tusk” (2014) would be a fun watch for me and my sister to pass the time since I enjoy horror films. But… But that film… Greatly disturbed me.
If you are unaware, “Tusk” is a horror film about a podcaster who, after some unfortunate circumstances, is kidnapped by a serial killer who intends to transform him into a walrus. Written and directed by Kevin Smith, the film is a black comedy and body horror film based off of Smith’s podcast, SModcast.
The main cause of my disturbance when watching the film centers on the act of the transformation itself. In the middle of the film, after the main character, Wallace, is kidnapped, his limbs are then surgically removed and altered to fit the appearance of another being. An animal. Layers and layers of excess skin and fat are stretched and wrapped to become the stomach of a large walrus. Skin of different colors. Skin of different textures. Stitched together to create a new, yet wrong body, this implies that there were other victims of the serial killer.
Additionally, many conflicting features and limbs protruded from the skin. Extra toes and fingers are used to create flippers. And different noses and even faces are used to create an extra layer of fat. Coming together to create something jarring and unsettling, it highlights exactly how wrong and off it is, straying far, far away from what a human should look like. Or really anything in nature by that matter.
And that is why it disturbed me: It’s just unnatural. The act of transforming into something else is not something possible for humans. And when a person does transform, as demonstrated in the film, it’s off. It’s a different kind of fear that the body produces. Not panic or shock, but rather… Unease. Which is something the film “Tusk” has mastered.
