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Long Pigs (DVD) Stars: Anthony Alviano, Paul Fowles, Nathan Hynes (himself), Roger King, Shane Harbinson and Chris Power (himself) Directors/Scriptwriters: Nathan Hynes and Chris Power Clowns After Midnight/Jordan Entertainment Rating: no rating but could be R for violence and disturbing images Running Length: 80 minutes Re-release Long Pigs is the story of a cannibal serial killer. Move over Hannibal Lector. As the film opens, you realize that the killer is either filming himself preparing a corpse or being filmed. It is the latter and the two overly eager filmmakers (Nathan Hynes and Chris Power playing themselves) telegraph the ending way ahead of time. Yet, it is interesting to see the route taken. You may want to watch this with the lights on. Anthony Alviano plays Anthony McCalister, a serial killer by day and a parking valet by night. We don’t know how the filmmakers met Anthony, but they have his confidence so proceed to follow him from killing to killing. In the meantime, in narration there is a law officer (Shane Harbinson) who shows headlines and speaks of missing people, a psychologist telling of the profile of a serial killer and a talk show host. Since the people are missing, no one knows of the cannibalism or method of disposing. It is during these times that you may want to close your eyes. Just as Texas Chainsaw Massacre turned people off chili for years, Long Pigs may do the same for other cuisine. Alviano plays McCalister as a friendly sort who is proud of what he can do. He is particular about victims, attentive to his ailing mother and methodical in clean-up. There is a section where the trio is trying to get away with a body in the trunk and have a flat tire. What happens next is adroitly done. Yet, the violence lurks just around the corner and McCalister at last admits he once abducted a child. Nathan and Chris say they want to tell the world about McCalister, yet you wonder about their motives. Production values for Long Pigs are adequate with some scenes proving better than others. An interview with the father of a missing child resulted in part of his dialogue faintly heard because of loud background music. Lighting is an issue at night. One scene outside a restaurant was confusing as you didn’t know who was talking to who or what was happening. All in all, Long Pigs takes a bit of Hannibal Lector, mixes it with “Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer” and ends up a man who wants to write a cookbook. Yet, when McCalister is telling of selecting his victims he says, “…for a serial killer a playground and an arcade are like a supermarket.” Chilling thought. Copyright 2010 Marie Asner 
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