You’re going to need to catch Adam Mason (The Devil’s Chair, Blood River, Broken) and Andrew Howard‘s Pig at this week’s SXSW Film Festival or risk never seeing it again. Good luck finding a bootleg.
Longtime Bloody Disgusting readers have seen all of the crazy shit we’ve done over the years, which includes being one of the first entertainment sites ever to host videos and share live recordings off mobile phones. We were the first to cover film festivals, not to mention the annual San Diego Comic-Con that’s now the biggest thing ever. Shit, we reinvigorated the anthology with V/H/S, which is now a staple in film and television. And with all of that, one of the coolest things we ever did was host a world premiere of a feature film right here live on Bloody Disgusting. We did it in 2010(!), in fact, way before online streaming was the norm, with Mason and Howard’s aforementioned Pig. (Full disclosure; we were recently gifted with co-producer credits on the film.)
We haven’t heard much since, although there are high-priced bootlegs floating around conventions. This was always the filmmakers’ intentions, in fact, who wanted to recreated that rare experience of having a special film that nobody else does. With that said, Mason tells me that this coming Friday and Saturday SXSW screenings will be the last public showings of the film…EVER. A crazy notion, I know, but also insanely cool. All hardcore horror fans should be in a frenzy right now.
Here’s an exclusive look at the new trailer before we dive into what we know about this updated version of PIG:
“A savage satire of gender politics in America, Adam Mason is guaranteed to shock and offend with PIG. Created with actor and long time collaborator Andrew Howard, PIG is a virtuoso piece of pure cinema – with the vast majority of the film shot in a single, excruciating take. Less a narrative than a slice of madness – PIG pushes gender roles out to wild, lunatic extremes. Boasting a powerhouse performance from Howard in front of the camera and technically dazzling work from Mason behind it, PIG creates a truly uncomfortable sense of intimacy and has never been more relevant than in the chaotic time we live in now.”
Made for only $3,000, Pig‘s 80-minute runtime plays out in one continuous shot. Directed by Adam Mason, it is technically nuts, and features an intense and brilliant central performance from Andrew Howard. The movie was 100% improvised. There was no script. The movie took on a weird life of its own. Neither Mason or Howard have ever entirely felt comfortable with the film or its content.
Pig was never made to be sold, isn’t for sale, and never will be. Over the past several years the movie has gathered mythical cult status as one of the most insane underground films of all time, whilst also being incredibly hard to actually find.
“Post 2016 election, issues of misogyny and disregard for human rights have never been more present in the public consciousness,” Mason tells Bloody Disgusting. “Jarod Neece (the head of programming for the midnighters at SXSW) always loved Pig – since he saw it at 3am in Spain in 2010 – and it stuck with him. He reached out to me after programming my film, Hangman, at SXSW 2015, asking about Pig. I told him there was only one existing master copy buried in my garage someone. He consequently programmed it, bringing the movie back from the dead.
He continues: “The satirical and subversive nature of the movie has never been more powerful than it is today. It destroys far right gender politics in America today by putting the audience in the deplorable shoes of the antagonist and not allowing them any respite as the movie plays out in real time before them.”
We’ve never before seen anything like Pig and it’s going to be interesting to see how far the film’s legacy will go.
