The Vagrant (1992)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Lack of good storyline.

Awesome Movie

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

I love me some Bill Paxton. Everyone should love Bill Paxton. He has since passed away but even before that I viewed him as a national treasure. If you can watch Weird Science, Aliens, The Vagrant, Tombstone, Near Dark, Twister, True Lies, A Simple Plan, or Frailty and not be enamored by him in at least one of those films, you need to re-evaluate your life.Paxton plays Graham Krakowski a hardworking lower middle class citizen who purchases a fixer-upper. His new purchase is being intruded upon by a vagrant who proceeds to drive him insane. Graham believes the vagrant is a killer but others refuse to believe him. Is Graham going crazy or is this intrusive old man really a murderer?I had a lot fun watching this slightly unknown gem. It's quirky and fits right in with Paxton's known nuttiness. He turns almost everyone against him as he slowly lets a weird vagrant encroach upon his personal life. Even though he can't afford it, he spends a substantial amount on building a fence around his whole residence, installing alarms and cameras. He becomes extremely paranoid and even dreams about this dirty old vagrant breaking into his house. Maybe he has the right to be paranoid? Give this one a try. Some great low-key humor with some thrills.

This is a movie that in no way takes it self seriously. The plot is farcical, the actors over play there parts and the direction is over done. The result is pure cult. Its a shame that this movie is not available on DVD. Bill Paxton plays a yuppie Graham Krakowski who buys a house and ends up being menaced and framed for murder by a strange and sinister Vagrant played by the always excellent Marshall Bell. Soon people start dieing and all fingers are pointing in Krakowski direction. The movie surfs the fine line between comedy and horror very well. Mainly because the movie doesn't try to fit into any real category, its not exactly horror, its not exactly comedy. it could be called black comedy but I and most people who have seen it would call it, Unique.

At times, I was wishing that Bruce Campbell played Bill Paxton's part. But I do like a good dose of the Paxton when I can get it, and I definitely got a different kind of role from him in this movie. Not the greatest thing in the world, but it definitely reminded me of something that would make a great short story or novella. Especially with the degrees of paranoia exhibited by Paxton's character. Also, it felt as if the writer didn't know where to take such a simple premise so it kind of goes all over the place for the second half. The movie starts in one area and ends in another. No real direction. But the back story was nice. For a film of this caliber, I wasn't expecting any reasoning.It's also good to see Ironside and Bell in something together beyond Total Recall.

What was this? A comedy? No, I don't think so. Usually comedies will have humorous scenes, this movie has exactly one that earned a chuckle(the aforementioned cops and urination bit). A horror movie? Nope, usually horror movies will evoke some kind of feeling of dread or fear. A bum popping up to yell boo doesn't qualify. A psychological thriller? Nope, thrillers will leave you guessing and this one plays its hand far too early.Bill Paxton seems like a nut job from the beginning so his descent into madness is no big change. What was up with him driving his car off a cliff and in the very next scene gassing it up like nothing was wrong? This was nothing more than a z-grade bottom filler that should be avoided.