Hermit Jim

> **"I told you all Hermit Jim would save the day. I freaking told you!"**
>
>

> *-- Hermit Jim's last words, Taste (2019)*
>
>

**Hermit Jim** is a minor character in the 2019 short horror film *Taste.* He was the resident conspiracy theorist of Clover and Malcolm's neighborhood. However, his endless preparation for the apocalypse didn't do him much good in the face of the Freaks, and he was killed when Clover's father broke into his house.

He is portrayed by Tony Haig.

## Physical Appearance

Hermit Jim was a middle-aged Caucasian man with long, messy dark hair and a full graying beard. He wore a pair of denim overalls over a long-sleeved, red-and-black plaid shirt.

## Characteristics

Because of his eccentricities and obsessive preparation for the apocalypse, Hermit Jim was labelled a pariah by the rest of the neighborhood. People avoided him like the plague, with Clover even saying that she felt safer around the monstrous cannibals than interacting with him. Hermit Jim was seemingly content with this, even reinforcing his own bad reputation by putting up threatening signs outside his home and refusing to socialize with the neighbors. He was also rather absent-minded, as he was so focused on finding a means to keep the danger out of his house that he forgot to lock his front gate, which effectively set up his downfall. He also appeared to be a bit of a hoarder, judging by the countless piles of supplies, weapons and "trophies" he kept in his house.

In spite of his reputation, Hermit Jim had a compassionate side to him. Rather than let Clover and Malcolm stay out in the streets by themselves, he ushered them into his house while covering their entry to make sure they got in safely. He even tried to assuage their fears when they were all inside, assuring them they would be safe with him as he'd been preparing for a situation like this for decades.

## Background

Presumably for as long as he has lived in the neighborhood, Hermit Jim has been preparing for all sorts of apocalypse scenarios since the Y2K hysteria in the 1990's -- stocking up on shotgun shells, weapons, canned goods, etc. HIs behavior earned him a shoddy reputation in the neighborhood.

## Crypt Monster Universe

### Taste

After Malcolm's mother is eaten by Clover's father, Malcolm suggests that the siblings go to Hermit Jim for help, given his reputation for obsessively preparing for an apocalypse. Clover immediately shuts him down. After they kill Mrs. Henderson, who was turning into a Freak, she agrees to go to Hermit Jim's house.

When they arrive, Hermit Jim arrives after the siblings enter his yard, quickly ushering them into his house. Once inside, he assures the siblings that they're safe with him, as he'd been preparing for something like this since the Y2K. As he gloats that the neighborhood never believed his paranoia, he is jumped by Clover's father, who had snuck into the house via the open front gate. Jim was killed and eaten by the Freak, with his head ripped off and tossed across the room.

## Powers and Abilities

### Equipment

* **Hermit Jim's katana:** One of the many weapons he'd stockpiled, Hermit Jim owned a Japanese katana. After he was killed, Malcolm took the katana to use against the Freaks.
* **Shotgun:** One of the many weapons he'd stockpiled, Hermit Jim was seen with a barrel shotgun.

## Relationships

### Malcolm

Malcolm was presumably the only one who wasn't put off by Hermit Jim's eccentric tendencies, or at least believed he was the one best equipped to help the siblings after the Freaks started popping up. Hermit Jim's opinion on Malcolm was never expanded on, but he was willing to allow him and his sister to take refuge in his house when the Freak attacks became worse.

## Trivia

* Hermit Jim had a Sunny Family Cult mask among his piles of supplies and trophies, implying that he had interacted with the cult at some point or he was an intended victim.

## References

1. ↑ *Taste* (dir. Alex Grybauskas; April 5th, 2019)