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| “ | Your life as you knew it is over, Mr. Bryton. So if you wish to continue living, you will be a walrus, or you'll be nothing at all! | „ |
| ~ Howard Howe as he tortures Wallace. |
| “ | Man is a savage animal Mr. Bryton, better to be a walrus. | „ |
| ~ Howard Howe to Wallace as he finishes the operation on him. |
| “ | Are you really mourning your loss of humanity? I don't understand. Who in the hell would want to be human? God almighty... In all of my travels, I've only ever known a human to be an ocean of sh-t. | „ |
| ~ Howard Howe revealing the depth of his misanthropy. |
| “ | Is man, indeed, a walrus at heart? | „ |
| ~ Howard Howe revealing his true nature to Wallace. |
Howard Howe is the main antagonist of the 2014 horror/comedy film Tusk by Kevin Smith. He is a serial killer and a former sailor who has a disturbing fascination with walruses.
He was portrayed by the late Michael Parks, who also played Esteban Vihaio in Kill Bill Part II.
Biography[]
Past[]
Howard Howe was a Duplessis orphan who suffered years of sexual and physical abuse at the hands of the clergy who were housing him. As a result, he despises the human race.
As a teenager, Howard escaped from the orphanage and hopped on a boat and never looked back.
Wallace and Howard[]
When podcast host Wallace Bryton travels to Canada to interview an Internet celebrity nicknamed "Kill Bill Kid" just to find out he committed suicide, Wallace refuses to return to U.S.A without a story so he stays to see if he finds one. He finds a handbill from someone offering a room in his home for free and the guarantee of hearing a lifetime of interesting stories. His interest piqued, Wallace arrives at the mansion of Howard Howe, a retired seaman in a wheelchair. Howard tells the story of how a walrus, whom he named Mr. Tusk, rescued him after a shipwreck. Wallace then passes out from the secobarbital laced in his tea that Howard made for him.
Howe's Plan[]
Wallace wakes up numb on a chair with Howard starring at him, Howard lies to Wallace telling him that a brown recluse spider bit him and a doctor called Mosseeay had to amputate his left leg but in the process the doctor stepped on Wallace's phone breaking it, as Wallace starts to suspect Howard is lying, Howard not only reveals that he can still walk, but lays out his plans for Wallace: he plans to fit Wallace into a perfectly constructed walrus costume.
Howard reveals his insanity.
Wallace finds his phone intact and attempts to contact his friend Teddy and girlfriend Ally but neither answer their phone. It is then revealed that Ally and Teddy are in fact lovers. Wallace leaves his girlfriend Ally a voicemail apologizing for mistreating her, and Howard surprises him and knocks him unconscious.
Now aware that Wallace is in danger, Ally and their friend Teddy fly to Canada to look for him. Back at the mansion, Howard continues to mutilate and alter Wallace, while relating his tragic backstory. He sews Wallace into a walrus costume made of human skin, complete with tusks made of the tibia bones from Wallace's severed legs.
As days pass, Howard breaks Wallace's mind and conditions him to believe that he actually is a walrus. It is revealed that Howard had a past victim turned into a Walrus much like Wallace but did not survive when he forced the victim to swim, which the victim drowned.
Bartholomew Mosseeay and Guy LaPointe[]
Howe as Bartholomew Mosseeay.
A local detective puts Ally and Teddy in touch with Guy LaPointe, a former Sûreté du Québec inspector who has been hunting Howard for years. LaPointe reveals that Howard, nicknamed “The First Wife" - because he doesn't let his victims talk or go anywhere, and doesn't have sex with them - has been kidnapping and murdering people for years; he says he believes Wallace may still be alive, but not as they remember him.
LaPointe meets Howe/Mosseeay.
LaPointe tells them the story of how 2 years before he without knowing it, met Howard Howe once under the name of Bartholomew Mosseeay posing as a senile funny-talking old man. They eventually find Howard's address through two convenience store clerks, whom Wallace had annoyed earlier.
Mr. Tusk[]
Howard and Wallace/Mr. Tusk.
By now, Wallace’s psyche has been completely broken and has been conditioned to think and behave like a walrus. Howard reveals that, while shipwrecked, he was saved and nursed back to health by a walrus he named Mr. Tusk. He and Mr. Tusk lived on the island for six months until Howe killed and ate the walrus to keep from starving to death, only to be rescued moments later. For the past 15 years, he has attempted to turn his victims into his beloved savior in order to relive their last day and give Mr. Tusk another chance at survival. Dressed in his own homemade pelt, Howard engages in a fight with Wallace.
LaPointe gives Ally and Teddy guns and he carries a shotgun, they arrive to Howe's property, as they hear Wallace's screams they find Howard's house, they break in and look for Wallace. Meanwhile, Howe forces Wallace to release his inner beast, and Wallace brutally attacks his tormentor. At the climax of the fight, Howe raises the bacculum (walrus genitalia bone) from his lounge to kill Wallace, but Wallace impales Howe with his tusk. As Howard falls to the ground, Wallace repeatedly stabs him in the chest with his tusks. Just before he dies, Howe tells Wallace that he really is Mr. Tusk.