Jason Eisener
Hobo with a Shotgun

A homeless man named Hobo bursts into a city literally dominated by crime and violence. Robbers, corrupt police officers, raped prostitutes…even a pedophile roaming the streets dressed as Santa Claus. Hobo realizes that the only way to restore dignity and cleanliness to this city is the only one he knows well, a 20-gauge shotgun! Becoming an impromptu vigilante, the tramp will have to deal with the most despicable scum he has ever encountered.

Before becoming a feature film, "Hobo with a Shotgun" was a two-minute fake trailer, with which director Jason Eisener participated in a competition held by director Robert Rodriguez to become part of the Grindhouse project, which in the U.S. was released in a three-hour version, including "Death Proof" by Tarantino and "Planet Terror" by Rodriguez himself (in our country, for commercial reasons, they were released separately) and various fake trailers, including "Machete" and indeed the aforementioned "Hobo with a Shotgun," which won the competition. A few years later, Jason Eisener managed to create the feature film with a duration of one hour and 20 minutes (couldn’t have been done better), creating a spectacular homage to the '70s B-Movie Exploitation, particularly the so-called "Vigilante Movies." Extremely violent and at times disturbing, "Hobo with a Shotgun" also has a good dose of dark humor and a certain creativity in its situations, despite the plot not being so unpredictable. The budget is naturally more substantial compared to the fake trailer (even proportionally in terms of duration), but still very low compared to an average low-cost American film and speaking of films with meager costs, some will undoubtedly notice that among the director's cinematic influences are Troma films, such as "The Toxic Avenger." In my opinion, other influences in its creation also include "Mad Max," "The Warriors," and John Carpenter's films. Despite the paltry budget, Eisener was able to create a respectable setting and some side characters, like the "The Plague," who will struggle to leave the viewer's mind. Successfully recruiting a cult actor like Rutger Hauer as the protagonist greatly benefited both the film and the actor, who in recent years has participated more in forgettable products than in films of any significance.

"Hobo with a Shotgun" is not for everyone (I do not recommend it for those with a weak stomach), but it is a small cult for fans of a certain cinema genre.