Director: Emir Skalonja
Year: 2020
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Heading out on a road-trip together, a couple trying to see if the stories are real involving the local legend of a pig-masked killer roaming the woods nearby, but when a series of incidental victims also happen upon the area they all learn the truth about the legend of the Pigman killer and must try to get away alive.
Review:
For the most part, this one wasn’t that bad of a genre effort. Among it’s better qualities is the unsettling nature created here by the main killer which generates some fun slashing scenes. The first kill in the driving snow where his motionless stance and intensity looking at the victim attempt to snatch pictures of him looks great with the snow bouncing off the mask and then the killing blow which is quite brutal and graphic. Other scenes, including a hiker getting ambushed and chopped up with the ax, a fun and lengthy sequence of fleeing victims trying to get away through the woods and a battle in the snow with survivors of several groups encountering the killer, offer some fun chasing and stalking alongside the solid indie-flavored gore from the killer.
As well, the film also manages to become quite fun once it’s obvious that the switching series of focus on the various people stumbling upon the hunting site is the entire purpose here. With four separate storylines at play here, with the couple investigating the urban legend, the officer investigating the missing people in the area, one traveler passing through and then the group of volunteers looking to take in the legend for themselves, there’s a random nature at work here that is somewhat disjointed at first. However, once it becomes obvious that each of the storylines are converging on the killer’s hunting spot which not only provides extra bodies to chop up but sets up the final battle with the killer at the end. These end up being the films’ best parts that hold it up in the end.
There are a few issues with this one. One of the biggest factors is the bizarre editing techniques employed during the attack scenes which make for a jarring, distracting experience. With the scenes continually shot in slow-motion takes with crisscross editing for a stuttering, fractured style that tends to make it somewhat difficult to fully get the idea across of what’s happening, which stands out even more due to the fact that these are where the film is trying to sell itself with the outcome of the killers’ attacks when done in conjunction with odd extreme close-ups on various body parts. It makes for some sloppy and somewhat underwhelming scenes where it’s not that easy to tell what’s going on here.
Carrying on from that, the other issue here is a series of weird storyline beats that just make this look amateurish. The storyline switching is chaotic and random with no introduction to anybody or their purpose leaving no clue who anyone really is or their purpose, a series of random edits that jerk around to various individual storylines so that scenes just end with no explanation and very much coming across like a random series of actions happening in the same general area. Combined with some character mistakes, such as continually falling down like a klutz to allow the killer to catch up to them or going back to fight him off when an escape opportunity is present, these here hold the film down overall.
Overview: **/5
Despite some genuinely enjoyable moments that are present in spurts throughout here, the main factor coming across here is a bit more problematic and causes this one to be slightly less enjoyable than it should’ve been. It’s of some interest for those who enjoy indie slashers like this one or are curious about the urban legend at the heart of the story, while those turned off by the films’ flaws should heed caution.
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