I hope everyone had a good Fourth of July and avoided blowing anything up. I wonder if the studios figured everyone would be entertained by fireworks and then returning to work this week, as the home entertainment pickings are a bit slim. You have the usual Blu-ray editions of favorite movies and some low budget genre films, but there aren’t a whole lot of big titles this week.

Instead of looking at the big titles, we’ll focus on a smaller one this week. Hobo with a Shotgun started out as one of the fake trailers in between movies in the original Grindhouse presentation. Much like Machete before it, the trailer ended up leading to a full-blown exploitation film that actually does exploitation better than Death Proof or Planet Terror, the actual Grindhouse movies. Well, definitely better than Death Proof. Planet Terror is a beast unto itself.

As an exploitation film, Hobo With a Shotgun satisfies. From the moment you see a poor victim running down the street with a manhole cover surrounding his neck, you know there will be blood, and blood there is in gallons. The movie takes place in a light-hearted ‘70s / ‘80s setting where the villains are over the top and only one bum on a mission to clean up the streets can help the poor, innocent hooker and the rest of her town. Sound like your cup of tea? Definitely check it out. Doesn’t sound like your thing? Then most likely Hobo isn’t going to be too appealing. It’s not going to win awards, but damn is it fun.

Pick of the Week:
Hobo with a Shotgun