Long Pigs – Film Reel Reviews

Amazing mockumentary following a cannibalistic serial killer. – Will

Two filmmakers follow a cannibalistic serial killer as he shows them how he commits his crimes.

Written and Directed by – Nathan Hynes, Chris Power

Starring – Anthony Alviano, Jean-Marc Fontaine, Paul Fowles, Shane Harbinson, Roger King, Kelly McIntosh, Brad Mittelman, John Terranova, Vik Sahay, Barbara Walsh, Al Bernstein, Phyllis Cooper, Anita de Yonge, Nathan Hynes, Niki Landau, Elisa Moolecherry, Chris Nedello, Martin Nedello, Chris Power, Jordan Prentice, Kelly Trumpour, Ken Willett

This may just be one of the best mockumentaries that I have ever seen. It has a few problems but they’re very small compared to the grand scheme of things here. The big push of the film is the performance from Anthony Alviano as the serial killer Anthony McAlistar. His performance is chilling and realistic and you have to wonder sometimes just how stable a guy he is in real life! There isn’t an excessive amount of gore in the film but the moments that are there are very well done. They mostly deal with the ’cleaning’ of Anthony’s meat. The majority of the film deals with Anthony’s life and how he goes about his crimes.

I had only two problems with the film. One is a radio announcer that is constantly inserted into the film but it’s a close-up of his mouth all the time. When the end of the film comes you understand what his part is but during the film I found these moments to be annoying. Basically they serve as a kind of voiceover for the film, explaining some of the elements that have been seen while we watched Anthony. The radio announcer reports on the life and death of a Simon Sullivan who was a victim of Anthony’s. We know who killed Simon but nobody else does so the announcer fills us in on who Simon is while watching Anthony shows us what has really happened to Simon. It’s an interesting way to expand the story but the close-up of the announcers mouth was annoying.

Ready to carve up some dinner.

The other part that bothered me was Paul Fowles role. He plays Merle, the father of a missing girl who Anthony had kidnapped and killed a few years before the filmmakers started following him. While the entire idea is strong and brings up some emotional points, Fowles just wasn’t believable to me as a distraught father. I’ve got kids and I wouldn’t be anywhere nearly as put together as this guy was. Despite my disbelief of the portrayal, the entire situation that involves Merle was powerful and affects Anthony and the mockumentary itself putting a great spin on what’s going on. Aside from that one performance, everyone else in the film is so believable that it’s just plain chilling.

Anthony finds some help in the most fitting place, a pig farm.

Almost the entire film is very realistic, aside from the moment I mentioned above and the very last seconds of the film where it starts to become comical. Anthony really could be the guy next door and that’s what makes it so scary. This is not an over the top kind of villain, this is a regular guy. He goes to work, has a few friends, cracks jokes, goes out for New Years Eve and just generally lives his life like anyone else would. That’s what makes the moments of violence so much worse. If Anthony had been a cackling loony than any moment he spends killing someone would be expected. With the character being so normal, the moments of him taking someone’s life or cutting up bodies to store the meat are suddenly very disturbing.

A couple of tweaks here and there and it would be almost impossible to tell that this wasn’t real and that’s the biggest thing when it comes to creating a scary horror flick. All of this could easily happen and I would probably think that it already has but nobody is out there flaunting it on camera. Nathan Hynes and Chris Power have crafted a truly disturbing flick that may have you wondering what your neighbour is really up to when your dog starts barking in the middle of the night.

Under the marquee – Will