John’s Horror Corner: Pig Hunt (2008), a slow-starting B-movie about a giant killer boar that pays off in the end with great creature effects and gore.

MY CALL: After a terrible hour, this managed to turn into something I actually enjoyed. The gore and creature effects are great, even if limited to the last 20 minutes. MORE MOVIES LIKE Pig Hunt: For more (and considerably better) killer pig films, try Razorback (1984), Chaw (2009, aka Chawu) and the upcoming Australian film Boar (2017).

Opening scenes in horror movies are significant. We may not get into major reveals of our monster’s appearance or nature, but we often get glimpses of its capabilities or motives. And if the “I’ll be right back” red-shirt and his intestines are the paint, then the screen is our canvas. Based on the first few minutes of Pig Hunt, I’m immediately disappointed with my movie decision this evening. We see neither claw nor tusk nor tooth nor silhouette of our monster, and not one laceration of any sort is presented. Just someone screaming as something presumably horribly happens to him off-screen until he eventually silences and blood flows into frame. Yes, we know it was a giant boar because we read the movie title; and yes, we know this movie is probably gonna’ suck now.

BUT… for those patient viewers among you, this B-movie will indeed eventually pay-off in the end.

Heading out on a hunting retreat, John (Travis Aaron Wade; Living Among Us, Supernatural) takes his girlfriend (Tina Huang; Arrow) and his buddies to his newly inherited family cabin. They get directions from some strange folks at a gas station who warn them of The Ripper, a 3000-pound boar that wanders the woods. Sounds legit.

The writing is every bit as terrible as off-the-street-amateur acting, and both the editing and camera work are wretched. Director James Isaac (The Horror Show, Skinwalkers, Jason X) really hits below his weight class here. Knowing his other work, I am forced to wonder how this movie was so phoned-in compared to Jason X (2001)—and say what you want about that movie, but it was REALLY fun to watch and it knew exactly what it was. And while Pig Hunt will eventually wander into entertaining territory, it’s not until after we’ve wandered the boring woods for about 75-80 minutes! BUT… again, this movie will “eventually” pay-off.

The first 60 minutes feel like a porn screenplay got adapted into a super-low budget horror. The special effects department must have called in sick because the gore was generally absent for the first two acts. Our first two deaths are 100% off-screen and when we see a severed horse head it is completely uninspired. For those who care, there’s some dude-butt, hippie Xena Warrior Princess cultists living in a van, and a lot of toxic masculinity.

Eventually there’s a really brutal bone-protruding leg break and a boar is sloppily-gorily gutted, giving us some minor sense of hope that this DVD isn’t going to turn into a coaster or a frisbee in the near future. But it’s not until the second half of the final act that we come across reasons to actually support this film.

A half-dead chomped-alive dude is missing chunks from his arms and legs, and it is deliciously bloody. In these final 15-20 minutes, we FINALLY see our giant boar monster and, you know what, it’s awesome! I loved the practical effects. Its snotty skin covered in sparse thick hairs and horrible gashes; its big dead white eye wanders and blinks; its big animatronic mouth is littered with crooked chipped nightmare teeth… it’s a Hellbeast for sure. The thick opaque snot on this thing is unreal! Where has this thing been all movie!?!?!

How you know you’re watching a bad movie…

1. There’s this one sex scene that’s a little too raunchy, suspiciously over-written, and lasts a little too long despite the lack of nudity… I felt dirty.

2. Flower-power boar-worshiping cultists with sickles and kukris that farm marijuana and look like a group of porn stars took up LARPing.
   

3. If the biggest boars in the area are 350 lbs and this one is 3000 lbs, isn’t that a bit extreme?

4. Gnarly-toothed, coke-snorting rednecks cracking a racist joke referring to a scantily clad Tina Huang as “takeout.”
   

5. A vengeful family of rednecks led by a pappy priest in overalls.

6. Lots of boobs in hot springs. Lots of them!

I spent an hour making the best of this weak flick until everything thankfully came to gory fruition in the end. I bought this blind and, against all odds, I do not regret it. My recent obsession with giant killer boar films did not lead me astray. Now on to the Australian movie Boar (2017)!