Pig (1999)

"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.

"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.

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.

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