Tusk
A24 | Release Date: September 19, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
13
Negative:
8
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerOct 3, 2014
A parable that concerns the monstrous conduct of humans, Tusk is a salute to storytelling, a comic send-up of Canadiana – with awesome references to Degrassi and Duplessis – and a terrorizing vehicle for sharply conceived absurdity. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyClark CollisSep 18, 2014
Tusk lands close to Human Centipede territory in gross-out-ness — a warning, not a complaint — but it also has a genuinely haunting quality as Long's ties to humanity become ever more tenuous. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnSep 11, 2014
Despite its ludicrous turns, the movie benefits from the far-fetched events for its sheer willingness to go there, not unlike Smith's goofy, self-deprecating public persona. Read full review
80
VarietyScott FoundasSep 11, 2014
An utterly bizarre, weirdly compelling story of manimal love that stakes out its own brazen path somewhere between “The Fly” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperSep 18, 2014
This is not a movie you forget about as you’re heading for the exit. I’m not sure it’s a movie you’ll ever forget. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallSep 18, 2014
There are strange, midnight movie pleasures found in Smith's movie. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchKevin C. JohnsonSep 18, 2014
It has a game cast, it’s watchable, fun, sick, sad and has to be seen to be believed. Read full review
75
The PlaylistDrew TaylorSep 11, 2014
At it’s best, Tusk is outlandishly unforgettable. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzSep 18, 2014
It's ultimately Parks who carries Tusk, and carries it farther than it should have gone. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeSep 11, 2014
The picture is deeply weird, with an entrancement factor almost entirely dependent on the performance of Michael Parks. Read full review
67
HitfixDrew McWeenySep 11, 2014
There is a glee to the filmmaking that is matched by a greater sense of control than I've seen from Smith before, and while I think the film is wildly uneven at times, I think that's also the point. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversSep 18, 2014
Tusk is a mesmerizing mess that will make Joe Popcorn yak. Jay and Silent Bob will love it. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfSep 19, 2014
Both overindulgent and the writer-director's most fascinatingly strange movie to date. Read full review
60
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisSep 18, 2014
The result is so out there that you can imagine Mr. Smith and his collaborators rolling in the aisles at their own preposterousness. If you can find your inner 16-year-old, you might just join them. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanSep 18, 2014
Tusk is alternately amusing, appalling and frustrating. It’s also unique. Read full review
60
CineVueBen NicholsonSep 11, 2014
The sheer insanity of the premise alone is enough to make Tusk a surreal hoot. Read full review
59
Film.comKate ErblandSep 17, 2014
Tusk is revolting, but that’s entirely the point of Kevin Smith’s admirably imaginative and utterly disgusting latest feature, a twisted fairy tale that trades on gross-out gags and visual shockers instead of actual story. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriSep 19, 2014
Tusk is not a particularly good movie, but the vivid anxiety dream at its heart makes it one of the most personal films this writer-director has ever made. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsSep 19, 2014
Tusk is bearable thanks in no small part to its game cast, particularly character actor Michael Parks's Vincent Price-esque baddy. Read full review
50
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekSep 18, 2014
Tusk is kind of terrible, annoying and self-congratulatory in all the ways we’ve come to expect from Smith (without even, say, any of the silly sweetness of the 2008 Zack and Miri Make a Porno). But Tusk is at least trying to be about something. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleThomas LeeSep 18, 2014
Crazy plot aside, Tusk offers some thought-chewing ideas on human duality, both good/evil and man/beast. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsSep 18, 2014
The chief argument regarding his (Smith) "Human Centipede" riff is pretty basic: good trash or stupid trash? I'd say roughly half and half. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleWilliam GossSep 17, 2014
This feature-length joke isn’t for us so much as it’s on us for holding out hope that sheer weirdness might be enough to sustain this lark through to its violent finish. Read full review
50
The DissolveNoel MurraySep 17, 2014
Even for a fairly low-budget movie, Tusk doesn’t feel thought-through, or focused enough. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloSep 17, 2014
Like most self-conscious attempts at a “midnight movie,” Tusk lacks the conviction that would make it anything more than an outré curiosity; it’s essentially a filmed dare, combined with fan service. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy BurrSep 18, 2014
It’s been a while since there’s been this much dead air onscreen; over and over, Smith sets up a sequence, lets his actors shpritz, and stands by as the energy fades into giggly catatonia. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle SmithSep 17, 2014
There’s a fine horror film inside Tusk, but it’s only 20 minutes long. The rest is just blubber. Read full review
38
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreSep 16, 2014
In this not-even-faintly scary, rarely funny horror comedy, Smith is still sucking down big gulps of empty calories and hoping we’ll laugh at his belch. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineEd GonzalezSep 10, 2014
It suggests the worst possible gene splice of a barbed Terrance and Phillip South Park appearance, Fargo's blithe condescension, and the smuggest of Quentin Tarantino pastiches. Read full review
37
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanSep 18, 2014
Tusk seems to harbor no grander ambitions than to create a gross-out gag. Read full review
36
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeSep 16, 2014
It's not even that the film shifts wildly in tone as much as the fact that none of those tones work at all: the horror parts aren't scary and, surprisingly for Smith, the comedy bits aren't funny. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinSep 19, 2014
This tonal mishmash is a misfire of literally gross proportions. Read full review
25
Portland OregonianStephen WhittySep 18, 2014
Tusk is a step backward into an insular world. True, it will probably play well to gore fans, and that dedicated audience who already cheer everything Smith does. Read full review
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