Fridge / Tusk (2014)

• Fridge Brilliance:
  • We see how Wallace became the arrogant, condescending, offensive, selfish Jerkass he is by the time the film starts. He was a failing stand-up comedian, who became famous for viciously denigrating people for the sake of it. The discussion about how crying "separates us from the animals" is important, as Wallace crying whilst trying to speak shows that he has regained his humanity. So there is at least a kind of positive note in an otherwise Downer Ending.
  • Why is the tagline "Let me tell you a story..."? Because it's Wallace's search for a story that led him to Howe and it's the stories Howe tells to Wallace that allows us to learn about him, Mr. Tusk and why he wants to turn Wallace into a walrus. Going meta, the film was born because of a story Kevin Smith told Scott Moiser on his podcast, that they wanted to make into a film.
  • The scene where Wallace buys a soft drink at a Canadian convenience store is flashed back to near the end of the film, but goes on a bit longer the second time. On the surface this is just done to add the plot point that he wrote down the address which lead Guy, Teddy, and Ally to track him down, but there are enough other differences that it can be interpreted as being played out "Rashomon"-Style: the first time he basically gets the last word in his verbal sparring with the clerks, the second ends with them mocking him back and his only being able to muster a Lame Comeback ("You guys suck!"). Either the first version of the scene is Wallace's selective memory of it, or the girls are adding details to the story to make themselves the victors.
  • Wallace as a "walrus" can't swim because the suit and mutilation prevents him from full usage of his arms and legs (which are the main parts of our body that allow us to travel through water; Wallace's legs have been amputated and his torso's skin has been grafted to his arms), but he is able to float. Why? Well, human fat is quite buoyant due to the high amount of water within. Wallace is essentially swaddled in it, so he's basically a giant floaty.
  • Why is Howe reciting the opening to "The Walrus and the Carpenter"? Well, one place where the sun would actually be shining on the sea in the middle of the night, would be someplace in the far north...like Ponder Rock.
• Fridge Horror: Howe's walrus pelts were made out of the skins of his previous victims. How many people has he done this to?
  • Recall that about half of the tabs were torn off the flier, so the killer has received plenty of interest.
    • And that's assuming the flier that's shown was the only one Howe'd put on display somewhere.
  • The investigator Guy Lapointe told Wallace's girlfriend and work partner that "Howard Howe" was believed to have killed 23 people before.
  • By the end of the movie, Wallace is stuck in the walrus suit and is completely broken on a psychological level. Can you really blame Guy Lapointe for wanting to give Wallace the Mercy Kill option?!

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