Long Pigs

Two young directors film the hunt and butchering of a prostitute by a local cannibal serial killer. This is interspersed with footage of a grieving parent, a psychologist and a detective. How will the story unfold?

There are some minor complaints to be made. For example, the cannibal (Anthony Alviano) seems younger and nerdier than expected, which took away some of the realism. The same for the police officer (Shane Harbinson) -- seemed very young, but presented himself very professionally. A fine actor, he easily could have passed for a real cop.

The radio DJ (Roger King) was the strongest and best-written role. His words were well-scripted and well-spoken, and the way his scenes book-cased the film really worked well. The film would have been good without him, but this pushed it from good to very good... perhaps almost great.

I appreciate the argument made that "how can it be wrong if it tastes so good?" This is reasonable. God or nature has made edible things palatable -- we learn what to eat by whether or not our taste buds enjoy it. If man was created tasting good, something would seem to be supposed to eat it. Why not other men? (There are moral questions here, of course, but at the very least, why do we not eat the flesh of those who have died?)

More than anything else, I have to call attention to the very good use of effects on the corpse... very, very good. The body contained skin, flesh, meat, guts, bones... I do not know how this was accomplished, but it may be the greatest corpse effect in movie-making history. I believe this honor belongs to Chris Bridges, who has been involved in the field for over a decade on a number of notable projects.

I would endorse this film. It is an interesting faux documentary, and with the work of Chris Bridges, it may have you doing a double-take. Did they use a real body? It is almost too difficult to be sure.

The movie got some attention worldwide due the limited release of the DVD with a package of jerky. I got mine by contacting the director. Of course I had seen the trailer and immediately two films came into my mind, August Underground and C'est Arrivé Près De Chéz Vous (better known overseas as Man Bites Dog). After watching it I would rather compare it more to Man Bites Dog. August is more about brutality with a small storyline. Here we have the same story as Man Bites Dog. A director and his crew agrees to follow a killer. But not a normal one, a cannibal. Sometimes it's, just like MBD, a bit funny. Like making some stew from human parts. I won't go as far as other reviewers by asking who's worser, the killer or the crew. The difference between MBD and Long Pigs is the fact that Long Pigs goes more into the mind of the killer. It's all filmed docu style. It never becomes really gory but still, some scene's are really well done and are not for the faint hearted. See how he rips the flesh from one victim in an accelerated scene. Somehow you can see the end coming, but when it comes it's again not for the squeamish. Nice low budget which doesn't need the gore to keep you attracted.

In LONG PIGS, two fledgling filmmakers make a documentary chronicling the exploits of Anthony McAlistar (Anthony Alviano), a serial-killing cannibal. This is intercut with interviews with a police detective, and an expert on psychopathic serial-murderers.

What is truly jarring about this film is Anthony's nonchalance as he goes about his gruesome business, explaining things, and answering various questions. The documentarians are also pretty laid-back about it all, in spite of the bloody horrors unfolding in front of them. They go along with Anthony for his liesure activities as well. This helps with the realism aspect.

The deadpan approach of LONG PIGS is quite effective, as it was in other such films, like MAN BITES DOG. As in that movie, this could be about any mundane subject, and it would feel the same. Of course, what makes this different from regular docs is the splatter and cannibalism. There are other similarities between the two movies, as in the increasing complicity of the filmmakers.

Make no mistake. There's some pretty shocking stuff here! Those who are easily disturbed might want to avoid this, or at least keep plenty of barf bags handy!

That said, this is still a superior "found footage / mockumentary" film. It's certainly humorous in a very dark, macabre, sometimes -extremely- cynical way. One time-lapse sequence is particularly well-done, gory, and bizarre, accompanied by Tchaikovsky's Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

A classic of its subgenre, with a fantastic finale, and a satisfying epilogue...

Direct to video pseudo documentary. Aren't we done with this phony format? And this one makes zero sense. What film crew is going to follow around a dude while he kills and eats women? It's amateurish and dumb.

The Plot

A documentary by two desperate young filmmakers who stumble upon the ultimate subject, a 33 year old cannibalistic serial killer named Anthony McAllister, who has agreed to let them document every aspect of his horrifically violent life-style. Initially terrified, the filmmakers get to know Anthony as a person. They even begin to identify with his ecological and philosophical justifications for his cannibalistic lifestyle. It's only when they investigate further that the filmmakers begin to doubt Anthony's accounts of his past. Tensions noticeably rise as the filmmakers continue to confront Anthony on his conflicting stories and ever-changing philosophies. During an awkward interview, the filmmakers interview Merle, the father of a young girl who was abducted and never found. This abduction was Anthony's first child victim. Merle welcomes them into his home and gives them a heart-felt experience that even Anthony is touched by.

I'm so sick of found footage horror I could scream, but I saw Long Pigs last night and it was fantastic. I'd say it has to be in the top five best films of the genre. The practical effects were outstanding. Definitely watch the Special Features on how they made the bodies. The acting was a little weak at first, but they found their groove before the halfway mark and it really started to click. I have to say I saw the ending coming, but I was not disappointed by that. The score was probably the weakest thing about the movie. I would have preferred silence to the urban remix of "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies". I get the point they were trying to make with that choice, but to me that particular piece is way overused. It's on my blacklist with "O Fortuna" and the chorus from Beethoven's 9th. Just don't. The script was better than average. The acting got better and better as the movie carried on. Cinematography is always my complaint with these kinds of movies. I said the same thing about REC: This is supposed to be a PROFESSIONAL cameraman. He should be able to hold a camera still sometimes. I wish they hadn't fast-forwarded through the butchery scene. That could have been really horrifying if they had been able to pull it off realistically and we had gotten to see it. Overall, great flick. Not a rip-off of August Underground by a mile. I hate found-footage horror, but I loved this.