Movie Review: "Long Pigs"

As someone who regards found footage as his favorite horror sub-genre, I have to admit that since there are so found footage films out there, and even more on the way, I've lately found myself to be very disappointed in many films of the genre that I've seen as of late.

The Paranormal Activity films are, without question, my least favorite of the genre, as a matter of fact, I downright detest both PA and Paranormal Activity 2. Others that I've found to be a major disappointment have included Re-Cut (2010), Lake Mungo (2008), Diary of the Dead (2007) and The Troll Hunter (2010).

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One of the problems currently plaguing the genre is a lack of originality and a blatant disregard for the genre itself. With found footage becoming the flavor of the month, it seems a lot of filmmakers are jumping on the found footage bandwagon, and using it as a means to be lazy in their filmmaking. Quite simply, it's becoming a cop out. Why not make a found footage film, put no care into it at all, and claim that it looks shoddy purposefully?

I'll tell you why not, because it's starting to hurt the genre that I hold very near, and dear to my heart. If each found footage film that comes out, either in theaters, or direct-to-DVD, is worse than the last, eventually interest in the genre will begin to wane, with fewer genre films being made, until, eventually, both distributors and filmmakers alike will see it as a bad investment and simply stop making them. This will make me very unhappy.

What I want is for the crappy FF films to cease production, and those that are made by talented and respectful filmmakers, those who care about the genre, to continue to shock, entertain and amaze me.

Right about now, you're probably wondering why the hell I'm going off on a rant about the found footage genre as a whole before I even get to the review? That's a question that I'd be glad to answer. Chris Power and Nathan Hynes are filmmakers who fit into the latter category. They are very respectful to the genre, and unlike Fritz Manger, Oren Peli, Joel Anderson, André Øvredal, and even George A. Romero, they've made a found footage movie for all the right reasons, and most importantly, they didn't do it for the wrong reasons.

Power and Hynes co-wrote, co-directed and co-produced a brilliant found footage/mockumentary titled Long Pigs.

Filmed in the found footage/mockumentary style, Long Pigs recounts the story of two young and quite inexperienced filmmakers (played by Power and Hynes, who use their real names to add to the film's realism) who meet a 30-something serial killer named Anthony McAlister (Anthony Alviano), who not only kills his victims but he then butchers them, in a very professional manner, and consumes them, like you or I would eat beef or pork. McAlister is a cannibal who sees himself as a refined connoisseur of sophisticated cooking and fine meats, which just happen to be human flesh. Chris and Nathan convince Anthony to allow them to follow him with their cameras throughout his everyday routine, chronicling his life as parking valet by day, and slick cannibalistic serial killer by night, filming McAlister as he hunts his victims, murders them, butchers and ultimately eats them, as well as detailing the mundane aspect to his otherwise boring, normal, everyday life. As part of the documentary, the film crew speak to a police officer, an expert in sociopaths and even the father of McAlister's youngest victim As they continue work on their documentary of this disconnected-from-society serial killer, tensions begin to arise between filmmakers and their muse, culminating in one final interview with the cannibalistic serial killer, Anthony McAlister.

The entire film is presented as though it were an actual documentary. This truly adds to the creepiness of a story that would be unsettling if it would have been produced as a typical dramatic-type horror film. It becomes all the more disturbing in the manner in which it is presented.

The acting here is absolutely superb, something that is sometimes an issue with some found footage films, such as the P.A. films and even The Poughkeepsie Tapes, a film that I did enjoy, however I cannot ignore the fact that most of the acting, with the exception of the film's star, Ben Messmer, was awful.

The top notch acting, especially that of star Anthony Alviano, who is simply amazing, and completely believable, as a cannibal and serial killer, really adds to the realism of this film.

Another aspect of Long Pigs that helps to make it a stand out found footage film, and a quite believable one, is the absolutely prodigious special effects. The FX, created by FX genius Chris Bridges, whose work you've surely seen in films such as Dawn of the Dead (2004), Silent Hill, Saw III, 300, Max Payne and Splice. Bridges' FX work in Long Pigs is among the best that I've ever seen. It's nearly impossible to differentiate between an actor hanging by his or her feet in McAlister's basement, and the FX bodies that Bridges constructed. I ofte thought to myself, "I can't believe that this actress was willing to be hung upside down, with even a prop blade near her genital region!', just to soon realize that it wasn't the actress at all, but rather one of Bridges' creations. He is just that talented!

A while back I write an article on what I considered to be the 10 best films of the found footage genre. If I were to write such an article again now, or if I were to go back and edit it, I'd have to include Long Pigs somewhere at the top of the list. I would most definitely place it somewhere within the top 3!

Whether you like to refer to them as found footage films, shaky cam movies or mockumentaries, this is how these type of films should be done! It shouldn't be an excuse to film a lazy, plot-hole ridden story, using a cheap camcorder purchased at Target or Wal-Mart, in an attempt to merely cash in on a genre that is hot at the moment by spending a minimal amount of money to make a maximum profit. If you're going to make a found footage film, it should be done as a means to further the terrifying or horrific experience. It should be done with love and care, and should make the viewer feel as though what they are watching is indeed an actual documentary, or the actual tapes recovered from a real-life murder(s), haunting, disappearance, etc.

Chris Power and Nathan Hynes truly understand what this genre is meant to be and in Long Pigs, they've given to us, the fans of the genre, one of the finest found footage/mockumentary films ever created!

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