Long Pigs (2007, Review) R-Squared Films

Director:  Nathan Hynes, Chris Power

Cast:  Anthony McAllister, Nathan Hynes, Chris Power, Paul Fowles, Roger King

R-Squared Films / Not Rated / NTSC Region 1 / 16×9 Widescreen / Digitally Mastered Stereo / 81 Minutes

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When Greg B. (the head honcho of Cinesploitation) sent me a dingy yellow envelope filled with seven CD slip cases filled with discs that were about as plain as any common writable compact disk, I figured that I was in for many nights of trying very hard to keep myself from dozing off into dreamland.  I eventually came to the last three on the due-date list and popped in the first disc labeled Long Pigs.  The first thing that came to mind was “butchering”, so there was a sneaking suspicion that Long Pigs was going to be sort of a slasher-esque film.  I pressed play, lay back and readied myself to sink into the movie, but instantly became detached when I noticed it played as a documentary – a genre I greatly despise if it isn’t done exceptionally well.  But lo and behold the pessimistic mood changed as soon as I realized that the documentary wasn’t a documentary at all but a mockumentary about following the daily life of a cannibal.

Two amateur filmmakers decide to tackle a controversial story by following the life of Anthony McAllister, a middle aged man with a taste for human meat.  Anthony explains step-by-step the process of finding good meat prospects, how to cut the meat and how to make a dish to remember.  But Anthony’s lifestyle isn’t all secure as he deals with the pressure of being caught, his mother on the verge of death and his interaction with a father of a young girl who was on Anthony’s dinner plate two years earlier.

The Long Pigs’ mockumentary doesn’t seem like a mock.  A very realistic sense is conveyed due to the unedited video imagery, the “you know” and “like” dialogue fillers that usually aren’t written in the screenplay treatments and the fact that the corpses being stripped down to the bone looked too real for comfort.  That’s the whole trick to mockumentary-type films; you can’t make a dark subject too farcical if you’re trying to get an audience to believe in the story itself.  Blair Witch Project was low-key on the farce and heavy on the subject matter making the film scary as well as successful.  I see those same qualities in Long Pigs as it hits you over the head with sickening issues that seem to be nothing to Anthony McAllister because these obscenities are a part of his lifestyle. Long Pigs turns a taboo issue up on its head and makes Anthony seem like an average Joe.  Anthony is the anti-hero; his actions are disgusting, gruesome, absurd, and most importantly illegal, yet most of us will watch and cheer and react as if Anthony the cannibal needs to survive this ordeal his lifestyle has plugged him into.

The directors Nathan Hynes and Chris Power use their real names and talents in portraying the two amateur filmmakers.  Hynes and Power have no shame in making fun of themselves in this production as they’re seen throwing up, aiding Anthony with dead bodies, finding the right camera angles, insisting on filming Anthony’s most personal issues and being in harm’s way most of the time.  Long Pigs holds nothing back and really hits you in the face with the subject matter.  Actor Anthony Alviano as “Anthony” has a real Dahmer meets Hannibal type personality.  Although that combination might seem fantastic, the realism and the averageness of the character is quite frightening.  A definite sleeper amongst R-Squared’s coming June lineup for Big Bite Entertainment. Long Pigs hits the streets June 15, so pick it up and see the inside and private life of a lonely cannibal man.

Steven Tee

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