At first glance of “Long Pigs” and screen captures, many movie goers will be quick to dismiss Chris Power and Nathan Hyne’s mock documentary as merely a low budget film attempting to shock us in to submission and while in many ways “Long Pigs” is a gruesome and shocking film, “Long Pigs” also has a sense of sardonic humor and intelligence to it that makes it much more than just a movie about a cannibal and his fixation on the fine art of grooming human corpses to be eaten for his cooked delicacies. The directors behind this clearly were influenced by the likes of the classic film “Man Bites Dog” about a documentary crew anxiously trying to get in to the mind of a criminal who get too close for comfort, and “Long Pigs” is very influenced by that title engaging in a long moral and social breakdown of the greatest of taboos: cannibalism, and what repercussions they have in today’s society.
Is it cold blooded murder or just another form of evolution? Is it a primal need for human flesh or just a psychopathic need? Thankfully both directors manage to find the right balance of a pure horror film and a tongue in cheek breakdown of our approach toward meat eating and food consumption in a world that has a certain set standards for some animals and not others. The writers ponder on the question of why it’s okay for us to eat chicken but not cat, which is ultimately paralleled to the film’s whole message of why it’s tolerable for us to consume animals but not each other, since we’re all basically doing the exact thing to one another on a daily basis. The directors observe the nature of consumption not directly linked to eating human meat and examines the more hard edged wilderness of man that drives the subject of the film to view man as an animal that he has every right to consume if it pleases him to do so.
Anthony Alviano gives quite a strong performance for a film that’s considerably small budget as he manages to pave his own path as a cannibalistic foodie who takes delight in stalking and picking out his victims he deems suitable to eat. This role could have easily turned in to a poor man’s Hannibal Lecter, but Alviano seems to rely on his own individual charms and quirks to garner his own rather disturbing cannibal monster who is guiltless and merciless in his pursuit to indulge in long pig. He makes no exception, no excuse, he doesn’t apologize and he racks it up to primal urges, which is at first suitable for his two documentary filmmakers following him on his hunts, and soon becomes a problem when they manage to get too close to his misdeeds and realizes they’re apart of the vicious crimes instead of playing observers.
The questions asked with Anthony is if he’s feeding an addiction and some deeply sexual urge, or is he just pure evil in an average man’s skin who uses cannibalism as an explanation for his horrible murders? “Long Pigs” succeeds in being a very engrossing and deeply disturbing mock documentary that will touch even the most cynical viewers because the directors provide some truly grotesque special effects, along with Alviano’s brutally harrowing and convincing performance as a man who loves to eat other people, and can turn on anyone he pleases in a split second if the hunger strikes. And there’s even a small interlude where the character of Anthony is asked why he never eats children, and it’s much more gruesome than you’d expect. Meanwhile the directors delve in to his psychology, a man who is without limits who has his own.
This is a man who somewhat takes pride in killing a child, but demands respect and privacy from others when a relative of his passes. Is this the indication of a man with an erratic sense of ethics, or just a madman posing as an aristocratic chef? Of course the film is not all about shocks as it is about thought provoking questions about cannibalism that many will ask themselves only if they’re capable of thinking beyond their own disgust, and that’s what “Long Pigs” attempts to do in the end, it offers up questions while also revealing a predator who could turn you in to the prey at a moment’s notice. A deeply disturbing and difficult to watch film, “Long Pigs” is a rather compelling and gruesome statement on the ultimate taboos and rationalization of our everyday crimes, while also standing as a very intelligent and sharp horror film that will appeal to anyone in for a shock or for some thought provoking themes on society and consumption.