Pig Hunt (2008)

This movie certainly wasn't anything like I expected, yet I'm not quite sure whether that's a good thing or not. Based on the title and particularly the enticing DVD-cover, I was anticipating (or hoping…) to see a good old-fashioned creature feature and perhaps even a homage to that nostalgic childhood favorite of mine; "Razorback". Instead, "Pig Hunt" is a lot more ambitious than that (perhaps even too ambitious for its own good) and presents a miscellany of creature feature, hillbilly backwoods horror, slasher and even satanic cult horror. Oh, and there are naked lesbians! The film starts traditionally enough, with a bunch of enthusiast friends (read = stereotypical twenty-something idiots that certainly don't belong in the woods) heading out to the Californian wilderness to go a-hunting for wild hogs. They quickly get stuck with two obtrusive marijuana-addicted and aggressive local yokels, who tell them about the most notorious inhabitant of the woods: a humongous and ferocious 3.000lbs hog nicknamed "The Ripper". The group runs into conflict with a sect that worships the giant hog as some sort of deity, but their main issue lies with the hillbillies. Pretty soon, the teens find themselves pursued by bloodthirsty hicks and only then The Ripper. The variety of sub plots made it very difficult for me personally to like "Pig Hunt", but I acknowledge that James Isaac (director of "Jason X" and late 80's guilty pleasure "House III") wanted to try something innovative and daredevil. The film all too often feels overly hectic and incoherent, which is a shame because Isaac does create a decent macabre atmosphere and swears by traditional non-computer engineered special effects. There's also a lot of gore and shocking imagery, including a detailed pig-gutting process, so better make sure there aren't any kids around then. Overall, this is an admirable attempt at hardcore horror but nevertheless ends up in the dreaded category of mediocrity because it's too random and all over the place. I like foaming hillbillies and naked lesbian hog-worshipers as much as the next guy, but here I wanted to see a big fat monster eating idiots from the city. Call me naive, but I think a movie entitled "Pig Hunt" should largely stick to humans hunting pigs and vice versa.

Even though the whole backwoods hillbilly horror thing has been done to death over the years, I never tire of toothless inbreds attacking any city-folk dumb enough to tray onto their turf; throw in a commune of marijuana farming, free loving hippies with a flesh-eating 3000lb mutant pig in their backyard and I'm in hog heaven!Jason X director James Isaac makes amends for his god-awful 2006 werewolf flick Skinwalkers by giving us one of the most enjoyable, bloody and fun films of recent years. Pig Hunt might start in familiar territory, with its typically clichéd group of weekend warrior blokes (and token babe) wishing they had stayed at home after they upset the local rednecks, but it eventually carves its own identity with the introduction of its drug dealing love cult and their prodigious porker. At this point, all logic flies out the window, umpteen hot women get their breasts out, and people start disappearing down the gullet of the biggest boar since Russell Mulcahy's Razorback—and if that ain't quality entertainment, then I don't know what is!7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

One of the basics of screen writing is that in the second act you've really got to shake things up for the climax to really mean something. This film, IMHO, got AWESOME as soon as a minor character dies, triggering a series of death/vendetta moments to follow. It took a lesson out of the George Romero guidebook, which is that the tension can't all be "outside". Little mutinies and unexpected stumbled-upon enemies can really amp up the excitement.Since the acting quality is not so evenly distributed (sorry, it's just not!) I really could have done without the long winded first act and a half. I'd have preferred to spend a bit longer seeing the cat-and-mouse sequences unfold. With that said, I was impressed with this project. Really liked the diverse cast of friends and foes, the makeup and the effects. I'm guessing that's where the budget went, although to be honest I thought this movie cost a lot less than it turns out it did. Summary: Creative horror premise, good gore factor and bonus points for possibly THE most random assortment of characters to ever hunt each other on screen.

Pig Hunt get's 8 out of 10 points from me. It has everything that should be in a horror movie, some weirdos (like the "redneck family neighbors" or the "hippie community") and some strong characters like Jason Foster who sometimes visually comes up like a sort of "badass" Aragorn ( by the way Travis Aaron Wade and Tina Huang as main char's did a great job, too). The story has multiple threats what makes it more interesting than other films in this genre, it contains enough suspense, horror and gore (great job on the special FX even the mutant pig) and good action too! As there are many horror movies simply duplicating old "hits" this one does not come up with really something new, but it has enough potential not to see it as a copy of the older genre stuff because of his mixture of horror and monster movie. As a real fan of this genre i spend a good time on that!