This movie certainly wasn't anything like I expected, yet I'm not quite sure whether that's a good thing or not. Based on the title and particularly the enticing DVD-cover, I was anticipating (or hoping
) to see a good old-fashioned creature feature and perhaps even a homage to that nostalgic childhood favorite of mine; "Razorback". Instead, "Pig Hunt" is a lot more ambitious than that (perhaps even too ambitious for its own good) and presents a miscellany of creature feature, hillbilly backwoods horror, slasher and even satanic cult horror. Oh, and there are naked lesbians! The film starts traditionally enough, with a bunch of enthusiast friends (read = stereotypical twenty-something idiots that certainly don't belong in the woods) heading out to the Californian wilderness to go a-hunting for wild hogs. They quickly get stuck with two obtrusive marijuana-addicted and aggressive local yokels, who tell them about the most notorious inhabitant of the woods: a humongous and ferocious 3.000lbs hog nicknamed "The Ripper". The group runs into conflict with a sect that worships the giant hog as some sort of deity, but their main issue lies with the hillbillies. Pretty soon, the teens find themselves pursued by bloodthirsty hicks and only then The Ripper. The variety of sub plots made it very difficult for me personally to like "Pig Hunt", but I acknowledge that James Isaac (director of "Jason X" and late 80's guilty pleasure "House III") wanted to try something innovative and daredevil. The film all too often feels overly hectic and incoherent, which is a shame because Isaac does create a decent macabre atmosphere and swears by traditional non-computer engineered special effects. There's also a lot of gore and shocking imagery, including a detailed pig-gutting process, so better make sure there aren't any kids around then. Overall, this is an admirable attempt at hardcore horror but nevertheless ends up in the dreaded category of mediocrity because it's too random and all over the place. I like foaming hillbillies and naked lesbian hog-worshipers as much as the next guy, but here I wanted to see a big fat monster eating idiots from the city. Call me naive, but I think a movie entitled "Pig Hunt" should largely stick to humans hunting pigs and vice versa.
