'Tusk' DVD/Blu-ray latest to forego bonus features

Posted Tuesday, November 4, 2014 at 10:42 AM Central
Last updated Tuesday, November 4, 2014 at 10:53 AM Central

by John Couture

The film that was literally born thanks to a Twitter hashtag, #WalrusYes, is making its DVD and Blu-ray debut on December 30. However, it seems that #SpecialFeaturesNo won out when it came time to decide on what to include on the DVD and Blu-ray.

Tusk, the newest film from Kevin Smith, is a definite departure from his comfort zone, yet it still keeps his unique flair that is all Kevin Smith. A horror film through and through, I was fortunate to peep the film on its theatrical run and it is definitely a film that will stick with you and make you think. In the end, that's a pretty good judge of a film's worth in my eyes. Of course, the film isn't for everyone, but it should really find its wheel house for those fans of low-budget, Hammer-style horror films.

The film is worth seeing for Michael Parks' performance alone. In Red State, Parks' Abin Cooper was a singular embodiment of evil and as such there wasn't much room for Parks to stretch his legs as an actor. While his Red State performance was still impressive, here in Tusk, Michael Parks is able to showcase both his deeply disturbed psychotic side and his wily comic wit. It's those brief moments of comedy, often opposite Johnny Depp's detective character Guy LaPointe, that truly demonstrate the level of mastery that Parks has attained in acting.

Both the DVD and Blu-ray come with a digital copy of the film with the SRP for the DVD at $19.98, while the Blu-ray will carry a suggested price of $24.99. The artwork for both is shown below.

That's it.

Surprisingly, according to the official release from Lionsgate, there are no additional special features at all on either the DVD or the Blu-ray release. I find this to be curious at best and downright sad at worse. Despite famously intoning "Fuck DVD" at the start of the Chasing Amy audio commentary for the laserdisc, there has been no bigger champion of physical media than Kevin Smith.

His films always do gangbuster business on home entertainment and part of that is due to the fact the consumer knows that he or she is getting a lot of bang for his or her buck, but this appears to be the first Kevin Smith film to be released "bare bones" as it were.

Now, it is possible that they might add features to the releases before December, but usually when we get the official announcements, all of those details have been finalized. A confirmation request submitted to Kevin Smith was not immediately returned. If true, it's really a shame because we know from some of the supporting materials from the theatrical marketing campaign that they filmed some behind-the-scenes features.

Perhaps all of that stuff will see the light of day online, so that both those with the physical and digital versions can enjoy them equally. But, it's too bad there wasn't an audio commentary made or perhaps even a first look at Yoga Hosers, the second film in his "True North" trilogy due out next year.

Whatever the case, we will let you know if we hear anything on this. For now, though, it would appear that the DVD and Blu-ray will only contain the film itself.