Let’s just get this out of the way: “Tusk” is a horror movie about a man who is kidnapped by a serial killer and surgically turned into a walrus. There’s really no way around it, there’s no other way to start this review. If you’re not a fan of horror movies, gore, or are at least the slightest bit intrigued by the concept, no amount of accolades I give this film will make this film enjoyable to you. This isn’t a “Silence of The Lambs”-like situation where I’d ask you to look past the gore and horror to see the golden film behind it, you are either team walrus, on board with the concept, or you’re not, and that’s OK.

With that out of the way, “Tusk” is the latest film from Kevin Smith (“Clerks,” “Jay and Silent Bob”), his most recent film since 2011’s superbly underrated “Red State.” This also marks Smith’s second foray into horror – the first also being “Red State” – and this finds itself more squarely in the horror genre. The backstory to this film’s creation is traced back to an episode of Smith’s podcast, in which he was sent a Craigslist ad advertising “free room and board” with the catch being the person had to wear a walrus costume at all times. Smith and podcast partner Scott Mosier twisted the idea to a horror movie – “what if instead of a walrus costume, he was turned into a walrus against his will?” –  plotting out various parts of the movie over the course of the discussion. The end of the podcast resulted in Smith and Mosier asking their audience if it should be turned into a movie, requesting that they tweet #walrusyes or #walrusno. The Internet obviously responded overwhelmingly #WALRUSYES and that’s why this movie exists.

The story follows ill-fated podcaster Wallace Bryton (Justin Long) trekking up to Canada to follow a story. The story he sets out to cover turns into a dead end, and before returning home Wallace finds a room for rent ad promising stories from an aged sailor. Wallace follows up with this ad, arriving at the house of Howard Howe (Michael Parks, who returns from Red State). Turns out, Howe is not the eccentric old shut-in he appears to be, and instead a walrus-obsessed serial killer who kidnaps Wallace. Wallace’s friends (Genesis Rodriguez and Haley Joel Osment) race to locate their missing friend with the aid of a Canadian detective (Johnny Depp) before it’s too late.

While “Tusk” experiences its fair share of problems, what is does do right is the costumes. Through makeup and prosthetics, the film’s walrus suit takes something that is conceptually ridiculous and turns it into something horrifying and all too real. Such is the strength of this creation that it defies the usual horror rule of “the more you see something, the less scary it becomes”, in fact becoming more grotesque and difficult to look at with every shot.

Smith has shown himself time and time again to be an adept director and writer, and it is because of this strength that Tusk doesn’t turn into simply an aquatic mammal version of “Human Centipede.” Smith is able to juggle the inherent absurdity and humor of the premise with a very tangible feeling of darkness and anxiety. As a writer Smith has always had a Tarantino-like gift with dialogue, and this film is no different, giving Park’s Howard Howe wonderfully dark monologues laced with literary nods while being able to transition to his usual crass but clever humor through other characters.

The cast, is also fantastic. Michael Park gives an electric performance, tapping into the same fanatical madness of a man who won’t be stopped that we saw in Red State, while offering brief glimpses into the human that may have once existed inside of the killer which come close to making us sympathetic. Justin Long manages to sell his vulgar, douchey, shock jock, as well as victim in terror (a la “Jeepers Creepers”) but he deserves special accommodation for his work in the walrus suit, which is horrifying. Johnny Depp delivers a scene stealing performance as P.I. Guy LaPointe who comes off as a wonderful mix of Inspector Clouseau and True Detectives haunted Rust Cohle.

Tusk’s pitfalls however are numerous and familiar for Smith fans. Most notably the film has the same pacing issues we saw in “Red State” and are probably worse. Of Tusk’s 102 minute run time, maybe only 50 of it is focused on the captivity of Wallace, the rest of the film is devoted to flashbacks, side conversations or a combination of the two that are unrelated and exist to flesh out various characters, or merely flex Smith’s writing chops. While they range from enjoyable (Depp’s monologues) to fun but useless (Long’s bedroom discussions) they just end up feeling distracting.

Smith is by trade a comedy writer, and while he is as funny as ever in “Tusk” and as I said before helps juggle the plot’s absurdity, it also contributes to the films overall feeling of lack of focus. Smith throws legitimately funny jokes in scenes that should we wrought with tension, it tries to insert scares into its laugh parts. The movie never lends itself to “Evil Dead” levels of absurdity, taking itself seriously throughout. It’s far too dark to be a comedy (or even a dark comedy really), it’s too attached to its jokes to commit to horror.

Ultimately though, the project seems to lack the overall passion and purpose for its concept that has always endeared me to Kevin Smith from a young age. It lacks the heart and lovable slackers of “Clerks” and “Mallrats”, it doesn’t offer the same musings on the universe we saw in “Dogma”, it doesn’t even have the urgent political undertones of “Red State’s” “what if the Westboro Baptist Church obtained guns?”

But most of these observations were made a day after the film ended. When the credits rolled it was the first time I had sat in an audience that was stunned silent since “The Mist.” For all of its identity problems “Tusk” is a one-of-a-kind experience. It is bleak, horrifying, and occasionally hilarious, and it manages dances the razor thin line between comedy, absurdity and unadulterated terror, and it is the best kind of terror, the terror that comes from the concept and execution, not jump scares. If you can suspend your disbelief with the premise enough to get into the theater, you will be rewarded with probably the most unique film experience I’ve seen this year.