Pig

PIG is not a movie you're likely to put on for the family after a big Christmas lunch, but as an exercise in unrelenting brutality it's certainly worth checking out for any fan of extreme cinema.

Even at only a little longer than an hour PIG seems a bit too padded. If this was a 60-minute MASTERS OF HORROR episode it would have easily been the best one, but a certain numbness sets in to the viewer around 45-minutes in after such a protracted exhibition of frenzy, brutality and madness.

Technically the film's much-ballyhooed 'single take' technique is certainly daring. And the performances are committed, if not always entirely successful in some instances.

All-in-all this isn't a perfect film. But Adam Mason and his team have gone and done a left-of-field experiment in grueling extremity. And for a vast majority of its run time it most certainly succeeds.

A psychopath's idea of fun is to torture and kill people on a ranch in the middle of nowhere. Seemingly filmed in one take, Pig is pretty much just torture, killing and degradation, with a slight twist at the end. Grim, mean spirited stuff. But effective. .

I knew what I was getting myself into before I started to watch this movie and so should anyone else, so I'm not going to even mention the violent content. It's a movie about a crazed killer, what do you think is going to happen!? In fact, I think Texas Chainsaw Massacre has a lot more graphic gore than Pig does. Perhaps what a lot of people have a problem with is that the main character is almost likable. Sure he's a sick twisted maniac, but thanks to Andrew Howard's fine acting he gradually becomes a 3 dimensional character that you begin to see is much more than just a brainless psycho. Every now and then there are glimpses of an almost regular guy here. A regular guy that just happens to be a blood thirsty animal. I should also say that ALL the acting is first class considering the subject matter and the fact that there's not much actual dialogue.

The single shot technique works extremely well. It gives us a sense of time and a good layout of his home and surroundings. This in itself is very impressive and should be applauded. The music is sometimes annoying and unnecessary, but it's not a major flaw. I also love the talk radio in the background, almost like a commentary on what we are witnessing.

All in all, a fantastic effort. Adam Mason is a director to be taken seriously. He is pushing the boundaries without relying on excess gore and expensive effects. He obviously has an excellent sense of nail biting tension without forgetting to deliver us interesting characters that force us to react to them.

I'll finish off by saying, the ending of Pig is genius!!

Adam Mason, I salute you.

This has more or less the exact same "plot" and has the exact same title as PIG (from 1998) made by Rozz Williams (former singer of Christian Death) and Nico B. ...Sooo...wouldn't this count as plagiarism?? Yeah I can understand this movie having the same title as you can't really copyright a one word title, but for having more or less the same plot ASWELL as having the same title....?? Surely that seems a bit "too much of a coincidence"...No? Did the creator of this movie really hope that no one would take notice?? Well too bad for them because I sure DID take noticed! Horrible! Get your OWN ideas instead of stealing others!

A hypnotic headmashing experiment in single camera nastiness, PIG certainly lived up to and also confounded my expectations. I was expecting a standard redneck slasher film, which in essence it is, but the totally unhinged performances and the atmosphere of inescapable dread really hooked me in, and made me feel I needed a shower after it was over. Extremely technically impressive, almost completely improvised, and bringing to mind other experimental fare like the August Underground series, PIG is practically a video diary of murder, degradation, and crack-smoking madness. As unsettlingly brilliant as Andrew Howard's performance is, a few moments of pitch-black humour dot the proceedings, adding an interesting edge to an otherwise fairly archetypal character. The music can get slightly tiresome, I'd have liked to see it with no score at all except the radio excerpts. It's certainly a slog, but an admirable and affecting one.