Arrow Video: The Vagrant (1992) - Reviewed

Images courtesy MGM


The world really lost something with the death of Bill Paxton in 2017. The realization of that loss really hit me watching Arrow Video's new Blu-ray release of The Vagrant, an intimate little paranoid thriller wrapped up in a dark comic shell. Paxton begins the film as a mild-mannered accountant looking for a new home, and by the end looks like he's about to go audition for the lead in Joe Dirt. His performance is the centerpiece of the whole thing. While longtime fans will be expecting him to be the loud, bombastic presence they've come to expect from his roles in films like Aliens and Predator 2, Paxton exercises an inordinate amount of restraint in the opening scenes and, over the course of the film, slowly begins licking and nibbling at the scenery until he goes fully -- and gloriously -- over the top. He's got your attention every moment that he's on screen, and since he's in pretty much every scene, it makes for an entertaining ride.

The Vagrant was written by Richard Jefferies, reportedly inspired by an actual homeless vagrant who lived in a vacant field across from his place of residence at the time. The script was produced by none other than Mel Brooks and directed by Chris Walas. If Walas' name doesn't ring a bell to you as a director, that's because he only directed one other film in his career: The abysmal sequel to David Cronenberg's perfect remake of The Fly that starred Eric Stoltz and Daphne Zuniga. Walas' true expertise is in the field of special effects design and makeup. His work of transforming Jeff Goldblum from quirky scientist into existential nightmare on The Fly won him an Oscar, and he also designed these cuddly little holiday creatures known as The Gremlins. Yes, those Gremlins. 



This film is very much in a similar spirit as Gremlins. It can be thrilling and tense, but it's oddly hilarious with a sense of jubilation that comes from excellent performers having fun with the material. Walas' approach to the story even lends an almost Lynchian sense of intrigue. As the film begins, Graham Krakowski (Paxton) is scoping out the house that will become the main setting for the first two acts. After his realtor (Colleen Camp, hilarious) makes it clear she's interested in more than what he can put into escrow, Krakowski discovers a local vagrant played by Marshall Bell (Kuato from Total Recall) casually using his kitchen sink before sauntering out the door lugging a musical trunk of his belongings. Krakowski, embracing the haughtiness expected of a new suburbanite, goes full Karen and calls the police. Again. And again. This brings in Lieutenant Ralf Barfuss (Michael Ironside), who isn't convinced that this "urinating" homeless presence is even real.

As the pranks, antics, and downright threats from the vagrant become more flagrant and deadly, Walas' best direction is actually misdirection. Krakowski awakens in the morning to find silverware embedded in the walls, doors removed from their frames and stacked neatly in his room while he was sleeping, and neighbors even start turning up in dumpsters. Are these things actually happening? Or is Krakowski just cracking up? We sure are. The movie is at its best when the comic tone is seen through a veil of ambiguity. And Paxton is right there in the middle of it, propelling the story forward with one of his most versatile performances, getting laughs even as bullets are tearing apart his house. By the time he's waking up in his demilitarized living room with a shotgun in his hands, the audience knows exactly what kind of ride this is, and it's easy to sit back and enjoy it as mindless fun with a few brain cells still firing.

The eponymous vagrant himself is a terrific achievement of beautified nastiness. Walas and his team clearly spent a lot of time making Marshall Bell all but unrecognizable. Everything about his visage is perfect: From his burned face wrapped around a deformed blind eye to the grotesque hands that would make even the most experienced manicurist reach for a barf bag. All this wretchedness is flawlessly presented on this disc. The film grain levels are natural and without a speck of dust on the image, accompanied by a pristine original 2.0 audio track that really highlights the eclectic original score by Christopher Young. This music is like a character all by itself. Accentuated with the sounds of ticking clocks and human breathing, the score acts like an extension of the vagrant's omnipresent menace, hiding around the next corner.

It's far from a perfect film. The abrupt setting shift in the third act almost makes it feel like two movies stitched together, but Chris Walas already showed us with The Fly II that he had a lot to learn about translating his vision to the screen. The Vagrant is a huge step up, and shows that he could've had a bright future as a director if he had chosen to keep going with it. The man has a knack for dark comedy and brings an irreverence to a script like this. It would've been so easy to make a straightforward home invasion thriller, but then The Vagrant would've likely been forgotten instead of restored to glory by Arrow. The last act loses some of the momentum once there's a definitive answer to the question of the vagrant's existence, but it's not a dealbreaker. Paxton is still there to command the screen with a lot of help from a game supporting cast. Everyone here clearly had a good time working on this film, which makes it pretty hard not to enjoy it ourselves.

- Blake O. Kleiner