Pig

This is a surreal and avant-garde short film that pushes the boundaries of experimental cinema to the point of absurdity. With its dark visuals and disturbing atmosphere, this work challenges the viewer from the very beginning. You can't imagine how much my face changed when the needle scene started. I literally began to feel a completely different emotion, as if I had turned on a different movie.

Although at first the shock effect works without fail, the movie soon falls into excessive "edginess". The abundance of occult symbols, BDSM aesthetics and provocative elements seems excessive and even self-ironic. Nevertheless, the heavy atmosphere and creative visual style keep the attention.

Its eerie, almost hypnotic quality guarantees an unforgettable experience, but I don't think the movie is as good as it could be. I tried to find a plot in it, for example, in the scene of a conversation using sign language, which is dubbed in Russian, but it turned out to be just a set of "scary phrases" with no meaning behind them.

7/10 - unusual, but not perfect.

The 'woman' as mentioned in the previous comment is not a woman. The actor in the pig mask with the long black hair is Rozz Williams. He was the original singer for Christian Death. This is a creative short shot in BW super 8. Given that Rozz produced this, I would have liked to hear a bit more original music. I can see how Bruce LaBruce may have gotten some of his pig mask ideas for photo shoots from this film. The sign language and backwards vocals are very Lynchian. The instructional book Rozz refers to is probably the most impressive thing in this short. Although Rozz died in 1998, and this short seems to have come out in 1999 I can only assume it was released posthumously. Perhaps it was just a creative venture for his private collection.

Pig (1998)

*** (out of 4)

Visually and musically impressive short that's certainly not going to be everyone's taste. We basically have a serial killer in a pig's mask taking a male victim back to a house in the desert to torture him. At just 20 minutes this film has quite a bit going for it but there's no question that the highlight is the visuals by co-directors Nico B. and Rozz Williams. Williams had an interesting history and actually killed himself before the release of this film and that too has an eerie shadow over the film. As far as the film goes, as I said it's certainly not going to be for everyone as it's extremely bizarre and features real violence that many will find disturbing. There's a sequence where a needle is stuck through the man's nipple and there's also a lot of full frontal shots where the penis is being violated to say the least. The B&W image really looks like an old beat up movie from the 1920s and there's no question that's there a certain dark mood and atmosphere hanging over the picture. Those willing to stomach the storyline are going to be in for a rather unique vision.

"Pig" is a very surreal little movie directed by two weirdos who seem to have been willing to do ANYTHING to themselves for the sake of their odd art. Seriously, there are some f*cked up visuals in here that do NOT look faked, and they managed to make even Me squirm uncomfortably in my seat, and I hardly ever wince during a "shock" production like this. But, seeing a sewing needle going through a man's nipple and, even worse, his penis was no doubt really unnerving and gross to watch.

My main issue with the film is how hard it tries to be *EDGY*. In some ways, this can be effective, but there comes a point in which it's simply too over the top and obvious. There are skulls and occult-ish imagery and sadomasochistic bdsm and plenty of swastikas all throughout this painful twenty minutes, and, after the initial shock, it gets quite silly.

Despite this, I enjoyed "Pig" overall. The atmosphere was very heavy and the visual style was often creative and oddly mesmerizing. There is no real plot, as this is an experimental film, but, in the end, it is much more linear than, say, a Stan Brakhage film, and this makes it work even more. The microscopic and cryptic semblance of plot it does contain is disturbing and wild enough to pull together a decently evocative short horror film that has the power to disturb and interest, no matter how obvious the silly, emo- teenage-boy-esque *EDGINESS* can get.

Rozz Williams, I followed the man from his early years until his death (has visited his grave in LA and took my picture). He made such beautiful songs with his band Christian Death, and did had a lot of other projects were fans turned their face away from because it became to weird or became a soundscape. Nevertheless, Rozz artwork was also something special. I do have his book which is nowadays OOP and goes for a lot of money, the same with the DVD of PIG. The short movie were we can see Rozz. On April 1, 1998, Williams hanged himself in his West Hollywood apartment. This was made shortly before that moment with the Dutch director Nico B. who was the partner of Gitane DeMone, a person very close to Rozz who appeared in early Christian Death work and even had a love affair with Rozz.

Rozz scripted the story for PIG about a serial killer killing people on a ritual way in the dessert. No effects were used and it looks rather gruesome and painful, so a friend (James Hollan) of Rozz was able to let permit the torture on his body. The script itself is available with the original DVD on the Cultepics label together with the book you see in this short movie. It was dated two weeks before Rozz his death. That's the reason why the original DVD goes for a lot of money, the DVD which I have. But nowadays there's also a Blu Ray out but without the extra's from the original issue. Still, if you can take some kind of S&M serial killer flick with the act done for real then this is a must see. People who are easily offended stay away from this. If you are a fan of Rozz try to pick up the original issue but if you can't spend the money then pick up this Blu Ray which also contains a sleeve that was banned immediately due the Nazi reference. I was able to catch the one with that reference already high in price nowadays, because a second issue is now available without the Nazi symbolism. There's no original soundtrack on PIG, it should have been made by Rozz and he did wrote down some things but it was never made, reason known....

Gore 3/5 Nudity 5/5 Effects 0/5 Script 3/5 Comedy 0/5