Like Machete, Jason Eisener's danse macabre started as a two-minute faux trailer in Quentin Tarantino's Grindhouse. In order to stretch it to feature length, he ups the outrage, incinerating a school bus full of children, for example, and having someone get stabbed by an exposed ulna. It's funny for a while, but then it's something else. As is Rutger Hauer as the title bum. When he gets off the train in Hope City, all he wants to do is buy a lawnmower and start a new life. He should have seen his error as soon as he noticed "Hope" painted over with "Scum" on the town's welcome sign. Too late, he's involved, and armed with a 12-gauge, he goes about to set things right. Eisener has a knack for the assaultive images and gut-wrenching rhythms of this kind of movie. Mostly, though, it's thanks to Hauer that the film transcends its origins; his performance combines Clint Eastwood in High PlainsDrifter with Lloyd Bridges in Airplane! He's a messiah for our times: ecce hobo.
