Genre

There isn't really a plot, as such. In collaboration with director/photographer/scripter/editor Nico B, co-director/composer/writer Rozz Williams works out his serial killer fantasies through the images of a pig-faced man torturing another. The big influences here are equal parts Eraserhead-era David Lynch, the surrealist films of the late-20s-early-30s (especially Un ChienAndalou) and the contemporary piercing/SM scene. In fact, there are moments where this plays like an artsy infomercial for the latter. There is some nice imagery here, but Pig doesn't really go much beyond its influences. The torture scenes, while not for everyone (most of the needles-through-the-penis stuff is obviously real) lack both the emotional context that give similar sequences their power in films such as Sick (where they're for real) and Audition (where they're not). To the contrary, there's something a little too "look at us! aren't we gross!" here, not to mention the fact that, for a supposedly transgressive feature, the atrocities are mostly of the "been there, done that" variety. All this said, the black-and-white photography and ambient score generate some nice atmosphere.

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