Pig Killer

As a Canadian who saw this all unfold on the news and the documentaries that followed, and a true horror movie fan of 30+ years, I can't say anything good about this movie! Let me be blunt, there was NO 'comedy' in the real-life story of Robert 'Willie' Pickton, or his 20-some known victims (or.49 according to Pickton's confessions). I'm sure the victim's families would agree with that statement and I hope they never see this movie. This movie makes a farce out of the murders and how they were carried out. In my opinion, I find Jake Busey to be a mediocre actor at best, not to mention he looks nothing like Picton, so I did not like him in this role at all. If your lead actor falls short, the rest of the cast is simply there to pick up the pieces.

There were no 'pretty people' in Picton's life or among his victim's, everything was a depraved, filthy, slimy, drug and alcohol fueled nightmare, from his pig farm, to Hastings street in Vancouver and the prostitutes he murdered. Picton lived his life on the dark seedy underside of the actual dark seedy underside. You can't use the term 'based on true events' and miss ALL the true events, or downplay the most horrid of them. If properly told, depicted and acted, Picton's story would make Leatherface look like an overgrown man-child running amuck with an electric carving knife. Picton picked up prostitutes, drifters and junkies, he had sex with them, drugged them, tortured some of them, enslaved some of them, killed, bled out, skinned and dismembered them and fed almost all of them to his pigs to cover up his crimes. Somebody should have fed the film/footage of this movie to pigs, to cover up how awful it is.

After a series of encounters, a vicious serial killer uses his operations as a pig farmer for the cover he needs to carry out the crimes he commits to placate his damaged upcoming, and when an equally damaged young woman comes into his life she finds herself the next potential target of the madman.

Overall, this is a fun enough genre effort. One of the finer aspects here is that this one manages to provide a solid background on the exploits of the killer. Given a rather novel approach here with the mistreated pervert who just so happens to kill women due to the in-depth relationship status that this utilizes with the constant flashbacks reminiscing on the bullying he suffered as a kid as well as the incestuous nature of his relationship with his mother. This all provides the kind of cliched if still worthwhile setup for the kind of story that's being told here as the type of sleazy antics on display as an adult focus on the graphic dismemberment of the corpses in full detail. This provides the kind of graphic gore and sleaze with how it deals with showing the sexuality at the heart of the matter to provide some likable factors. There are some issues with this one. The main one here is the overlong and excessive running length that comes with some rather unnecessary sidestories that cause this. As so much of the exploits of his crimes revolve around the systematic dismemberment of his victims before feeding them to his pet pig, a lot of this grows increasingly repetitive following the same admittedly disturbing setups but it's not enough to overcome how familiar a lot of this is. That also extends to the cliched amount of setup at play here involving the daughter's drug-induced lifestyle that draws her together with him that follows so many cliched and familiar tropes that run the film out far longer than it should detailing her home strife and then later meeting him that runs through a lot of the film. These are what end up holding the film down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Graphic Full Nudity, heavy drug use, and sex scenes.

Serial killers will always be a curiosity for many of us. It takes us to the edge of society, and we are able to witness the most heinous acts of depravity from the safety of our armchairs. And although Netflix has a good stronghold on qualitative serial killer documentaries, Pig Killer chooses to go with the "based on a true story" moniker and run with it.

When we first meet Pickton, he's already well-established in his routine. There's very little insight into his beginnings, except for brief flashbacks of him having rather passionate sex with his own mother (played by the legendary Ginger Lynn). This is probably the most unsubtle way to suggest that Pickton himself was born out of depravity and humiliation. In fact, when Pickton picks up his first victim Brenda (Bai Ling), he asks her to call him "Piggy". This could possibly be the handle that he was bullied by since many had also commented on his farm-like body odour.

The "Brenda incident" as we shall call it, is probably the best insight into Pickton's misogynistic rage. And her murder is only the beginning, as we're then treated to some necrophilia, dismemberment, and disposal - all under the watchful eye of Balthazar, his muscle-bound hog.

What is rather odd (I found) is the tongue-in-cheek approach taken to the proceedings. Pickton isn't painted as the embodiment of evil as such, but rather a misguided pervert who happens to kill women. And there are subtle (and not so subtle) attempts at dark humour strewn about the place. This does give the movie an entertainment factor, well, before you have to slap yourself on the wrist and remind yourself that you shouldn't be enjoying such sleaze at all.

Overall, Pig Killer is more enjoyable than I would like to admit. Jake Busey does his dad proud with his own shade of mentally deranged and if you're a hardened horror movie fan, Pig Killer is a real treat.

🙂 PIG KILLER is savvily inkeeping with Scorsese's habit of putting character above plot, which is perfect for the real life-inspired subject matter.

Of course the movie still has a structure, progression, and mounting conflict and tension, so it's shaped like a story, but presenting the movie through the subjective dual prisms of lead characters Willy and Wendy is without a doubt the most potent ride for the audience as a human experience, making us wonder what's going to happen next, and exploring Willy from the inside out as a person while not letting him off the hook or glorifying him.

And the textured tone that fuses the macabre with cockeyed absurdity has got to be the optimal way to render these events as compelling and cinematic.

It's unforgettable to watch: Alternately entertaining, frightening, queasy, twisting the viewer in knots, just like Willy himself. Indelible, absorbing, disorienting like a drug, conversation-provoking, and admirably true to its adventurous filmic vision.

I had stumbled upon some documentary about the actual events just last month, but other than that, then I wasn't aware of the happenings of the real life events. And I didn't know that they had turned it into a movie. And as I happened to stumble upon the 2022 movie "Pig Killer" I didn't know that it was based on that, so that was a nice surprise to find out.

Initially I sat down to watch "Pig Killer" because it was a movie that I hadn't already seen, plus it had Bai Ling on the cast list. So of course I opted to sit down and watch this movie from writer and director Chad Ferrin.

The movie does have a good cast, and there are some familiar faces here as well, with the likes of Jake Busey, Lew Temple, Bai Ling, Ginger Lynn, Michael Paré, Robert Miano and James Russo. The acting performances in "Pig Killer" were good, and the actors and actresses brought the storyline and their characters to life on the screen nicely. I have to admit that I wasn't really sure of Jake Busey in the lead, but he really stepped up to the task and put on a great performance.

There is actually a fair amount of gore and gruesome violence in the movie. And that was definitely something that helped keep the movie afloat for a gorehound such as myself.

I found "Pig Killer" to be an interesting movie, especially when you know that it is based on actual events. And I have to say that I was definitely adequately entertained throughout the course of the movie. And I don't understand why the movie has landed such a low rating here on IMDb; 3.7 as I am writing this review. I found the movie to be quite good, but of course taste is individual.

My rating of "Pig Killer" lands on a six out of ten stars.