Day 311: Pig Hunt

Pig Hunt

Treif

Happy Election Day, all my American readers. I hope you voted if you're eligible. I just spent an hour and a half waiting in line and would have waited even longer. I love politics and I'm thrilled to vote. I am going to keep today's review short and sweet so I can go back to watching MSNBC like a hawk, cheering and booing like I'm watching WWE. I haven't watched an animal-based aka creature feature horror movie in quite some time. They all kind of blend together for me as the animal is usually a shark or some type of insect, with a few bears and tigers thrown in. This movie caught my eye though, focusing on a killer pig. That's so goofy, it has to be fun, right?

Pig Hunt is a 2008 horror movie starring Travis Aaron Wade as former soldier John Hickman. Along with his girlfriend Brooks (Tina Huang) and his friends Ben, Wayne and Quincy, John travel's to his uncle's cabin in the California woods at his uncle's cabin. On the way to the cabin, the friends runs into a strange cult of pseudo hippie women, led the Hippie Stranger (Bryonn Bain). He carries a large knife and terrifies the group. They learn from a local shop owner about “The Ripper” a legendary wild boar that lives in the area. It supposedly ways over 3,000 pounds and is a vicious killing machine. On the way to the cabin, they come across a group of hillbillies from the area. The next morning, John's childhood friends Jake and Ricky join the hunt. Wayne is injured by a wild pig and the group goes ahead to get help. Quincy discovers a large crop of marijuana on the land with Ricky and Jake trying to steal it. A standoff occurs and and Ben shoots Ricky. Jake flees and rounds up his hillbilly kin, one of which is played by Les Claypool from Primus. The hillbillies attack the group, eventually killing Quincy. John and Brooks come across the Hippie Stranger who helps them fight off the hillbillies. At the same time, Ben arrives at the hippie commune. They treat him for his wounds and then lock him in a pig pen where The Ripper is waiting. With John and Brooks on their way to the compound, will they be able to fight off the giant killer pig and the hippie cult?

"Hey, how ya doin'?

Despite being called “Pig Hunt” there really wasn't a lot of killer pig in it. That's the entire reason why I bothered to watch the movie. I wanted to see a giant pig kill and eat people for an hour and a half. Instead, we get a movie that focuses on killer hillbillies, killer hippies, and jerky main characters duke it out. The hillbillies make sense, but the hippie cult is just too weird for words. When the pig finally arrived, I was actually surprised by how good it looked. I was expecting a cheap, SyFy-style computerization. The big is large and has a lot of detail, down to the razor-sharp teeth. It makes me wonder, if the pig looks this good, why didn't you show it more?

The first half of the movie is downright painful to get through. They try to have character development, but every character is just too annoying to care about. The little back-story with John as a veteran is unnecessary and adds nothing to the movie. It doesn't help that some of the acting is less than stellar. It's not all bad, but there are some unpleasant moments as a viewer. The movie has a good amount of violence and takes a dark turn about halfway through when Quincy is killed. That's also when the movie becomes more interesting. Les Claypool of Primus fame contributes to several songs, making the music the highlight of the entire film. Though his role is relatively small, Claypool also does a good job as a hillbilly preacher. 

Jerry was a racecar driver...

When I pick a horror movie called “Pig Hunt”, I expect to see lots of absurd killing and gore by a giant pig. Sadly, that only comes in the last few minutes. The first half of the movie is far too slow, focusing on weak character development that really holds no sway over the story itself. Things don't pick up until halfway through with a decent amount of action and violence. The acting is mediocre, but the music is very good, thanks to Les Claypool. The pig itself looks very good and scary which is a shame because we barely see it. Ultimately, Pig Hunt wasn't as bad as I was expecting, though it wasn't really what I was looking for. If you can tough it out through the first half, you may enjoy the second.

4.5/10