Pig (1998) User Reviews

atmospheric avant garde horror

[framptonhollis · 7/10 · 2 October 2017]

"Pig" is a very surreal little movie directed by two weirdos who seem to have been willing to do ANYTHING to themselves for the sake of their odd art. Seriously, there are some f*cked up visuals in here that do NOT look faked, and they managed to make even Me squirm uncomfortably in my seat, and I hardly ever wince during a "shock" production like this. But, seeing a sewing needle going through a man's nipple and, even worse, his penis was no doubt really unnerving and gross to watch.

My main issue with the film is how hard it tries to be *EDGY*. In some ways, this can be effective, but there comes a point in which it's simply too over the top and obvious. There are skulls and occult-ish imagery and sadomasochistic bdsm and plenty of swastikas all throughout this painful twenty minutes, and, after the initial shock, it gets quite silly.

Despite this, I enjoyed "Pig" overall. The atmosphere was very heavy and the visual style was often creative and oddly mesmerizing. There is no real plot, as this is an experimental film, but, in the end, it is much more linear than, say, a Stan Brakhage film, and this makes it work even more. The microscopic and cryptic semblance of plot it does contain is disturbing and wild enough to pull together a decently evocative short horror film that has the power to disturb and interest, no matter how obvious the silly, emo- teenage-boy-esque *EDGINESS* can get.

Visually Excellent

[Michael_Elliott · 15 July 2015]

Pig (1998)

*** (out of 4)

Visually and musically impressive short that's certainly not going to be everyone's taste. We basically have a serial killer in a pig's mask taking a male victim back to a house in the desert to torture him. At just 20 minutes this film has quite a bit going for it but there's no question that the highlight is the visuals by co-directors Nico B. and Rozz Williams. Williams had an interesting history and actually killed himself before the release of this film and that too has an eerie shadow over the film. As far as the film goes, as I said it's certainly not going to be for everyone as it's extremely bizarre and features real violence that many will find disturbing. There's a sequence where a needle is stuck through the man's nipple and there's also a lot of full frontal shots where the penis is being violated to say the least. The B&W image really looks like an old beat up movie from the 1920s and there's no question that's there a certain dark mood and atmosphere hanging over the picture. Those willing to stomach the storyline are going to be in for a rather unique vision.

Horrifying maybe to those unconfronted by images like these before, interesting maybe to those involved in them

[Polaris_DiB · 4/10 · 16 January 2010]

A basic exposition in S&M. A man wrapped in gauze meets a woman in a pig mask in the desert, and they go off to a remote cabin where she performs erotic sadism on him. Kudos to the filmmakers for actually showing it, but oddly enough the black and white photography and noizy score seem only formula, and the real interest ends up being in the lovely scrap-book made for the production. Unfortunately, the use of said scrapbook is more diverting than the spectacle of the S&M, but whatever. I'm sure this movie holds a lot more interest to those people involved in the subculture or those who have never been confronted so graphically with the subculture (unfortunately, I've hung out with suspension folks, so this stuff has no mystery to me). I recommend the feature length Maitresse. Not quite as much direct S&M, but a real story and evocative characters.

--PolarisDiB

Experimental horror

[Horst_In_Translation · 2/10 · 2 November 2015]

"Pig" is an experimental horror movie from almost 20 years ago that runs for 23 minutes and is black-and-white. The emphasis here is on "experimental" as this film written and directed by Nico B. and Rozz Williams (and starring the latter) was clearly and experiment and gone wrong. It is not scary as a horror movie always should be, just trying to be different and even disturbing so that people talk about it, like at the end when we see female genitalia. Maybe Nico B. is the closest America has to Jörg Buttgereit and that is not a compliment. Not at all. This film here is not art. It's as strange to watch and even worse to listen to with the constant noise and distant voices we hear. A prime example of what a movie should not look like. Highly not recommended.

no effects, the real stuff

[trashgang · 8/10 · 20 February 2014]

Rozz Williams, I followed the man from his early years until his death (has visited his grave in LA and took my picture). He made such beautiful songs with his band Christian Death, and did had a lot of other projects were fans turned their face away from because it became to weird or became a soundscape. Nevertheless, Rozz artwork was also something special. I do have his book which is nowadays OOP and goes for a lot of money, the same with the DVD of PIG. The short movie were we can see Rozz. On April 1, 1998, Williams hanged himself in his West Hollywood apartment. This was made shortly before that moment with the Dutch director Nico B. who was the partner of Gitane DeMone, a person very close to Rozz who appeared in early Christian Death work and even had a love affair with Rozz.

Rozz scripted the story for PIG about a serial killer killing people on a ritual way in the dessert. No effects were used and it looks rather gruesome and painful, so a friend (James Hollan) of Rozz was able to let permit the torture on his body. The script itself is available with the original DVD on the Cultepics label together with the book you see in this short movie. It was dated two weeks before Rozz his death. That's the reason why the original DVD goes for a lot of money, the DVD which I have. But nowadays there's also a Blu Ray out but without the extra's from the original issue. Still, if you can take some kind of S&M serial killer flick with the act done for real then this is a must see. People who are easily offended stay away from this. If you are a fan of Rozz try to pick up the original issue but if you can't spend the money then pick up this Blu Ray which also contains a sleeve that was banned immediately due the Nazi reference. I was able to catch the one with that reference already high in price nowadays, because a second issue is now available without the Nazi symbolism. There's no original soundtrack on PIG, it should have been made by Rozz and he did wrote down some things but it was never made, reason known....

Gore 3/5 Nudity 5/5 Effects 0/5 Script 3/5 Comedy 0/5

No woman in this film

[shoskins-114-518439 · 23 July 2011]

The 'woman' as mentioned in the previous comment is not a woman. The actor in the pig mask with the long black hair is Rozz Williams. He was the original singer for Christian Death. This is a creative short shot in BW super 8. Given that Rozz produced this, I would have liked to hear a bit more original music. I can see how Bruce LaBruce may have gotten some of his pig mask ideas for photo shoots from this film. The sign language and backwards vocals are very Lynchian. The instructional book Rozz refers to is probably the most impressive thing in this short. Although Rozz died in 1998, and this short seems to have come out in 1999 I can only assume it was released posthumously. Perhaps it was just a creative venture for his private collection.