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Long Pigs is
a mockumentary in the spirit of "Man Bites Dog". Two filmmakers follow
Anthony, a cannibalistic serial killer as he does his thing. The two
document the entire process, from the stalk, to the kill, to the
eventual cooking and eating of Anthony's victims. You may think to
yourself, that this has been done recently with the film "Behind The
Mask", and while that might be a fair comparison, it is also fair to
state that the two films couldn't be more different. Where "Behind The
Mask" was more of a comedy, "Long Pigs" is absolutely haunting, and
eerie. Anthony Alviano does such an amazing job at portraying "the
serial killer next door" that his presence will haunt you long after the
credits roll. There is something about the matter of fact way he goes
about his business, humming as he carves the meat from the suspended
corpses of his victims. The sense of joy that you can see in Anthony's
face as he's preparing his meal is sinister. Even going as far as joking
that if he ever gets caught, the way he will capitalize on his crimes
will be to publish a cannibalistic cookbook.
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This film is living proof that
practical FX trump CGI any day of the week. As disturbing as
it is, the effects are absolutely gorgeous as Anthony is
carving his victims up.
One scene in
particular, displayed in fast motion, Anthony completely
"dresses" one of his hanging cadavers, and it is extremely
convincing, and very well executed. The acting, as mentioned
above, is one of the best parts of the movie. |
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All roles are
played very competently and believable, but it's Anthony that steals
the show. While it's not entirely believable that a serial killer
would let a film crew record him in action, it's at no point
over-the-top. First time directors Chris Power and Nathan Hynes have
the potential to become big names in the indie horror realm. An
absolutely solid first time outing. The writing is clever, the story
is very interesting, and at no point does the film drag. It's quirky
and interesting from the first frame until the last credit rolls. I
was a tad apprehensive at first, to be completely honest. While the
premise sounded extremely interesting, we've been beaten to death
with these first person style mockumentaries for the past five years
or so.
"Long Pigs" is one of
the best examples of how this style of filmmaking is done right. It's
smart, it's interesting, has an amazing range of supporting actors, and
actually feels genuine. I highly recommend this film to any fan of indie
horror. The film has haunted me since I finished watching it, and it
takes a seriously well crafted film to do that.
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