Given its title, one probably shouldn’t expect anything light ‘n’ cheery from 2022’s Pig Killer. Unsurprisingly, the film offers a graphic horror flick.

Set in western Canada circa the 1990s, Rodric “Willy” Pickton (Jake Busey) owns a pig farm. He lives there with his pet boar Balthazar and uses the property to hide his extracurricular activities.

In that regard, Willy abducts, tortures and slaughters women. He goes on a long spree but meets his match when he takes in troubled young Wendy Eastman (Kate Patel).

Serial killer movies go back at least as far as 1931’s M - and probably farther than that. The genre seems unlikely to ever fade, and because the topic remains fascinating, I hoped this one might offer a good new entry.

The film comes based on the true story of Robert Pickman. I don’t know why the movie changes his name, but it nonetheless uses the real tale as clear inspiration.

At least Killer comes with a cast of known actors, a factor that gave me some optimism. In addition to Busey, we find Bai Ling, Michael Paré, Ginger Lynn Allen, and James Russo, among others.

No, that doesn’t add up to an actual all-star group of actors. Still, given that Killer clearly didn’t enjoy much of a budget, the presence of recognizable performers became a possible indication it might offer something decent.

Unfortunately, the actual film flops. A disjointed mess, the movie squanders the potential drama its subject brings to the table.

Much of the problem stems from the clumsy screenplay. The story flits from one domain and character to another without much real coherence or logic.

This means Killer fails to follow a consistent through-line, a factor that turns the final product into a disjointed narrative. The tale jumps from Willy to Wendy to a police investigation in a manner that never fits together into a fulfilling package.

Tonal choices don’t help, as Killer can’t seem to decide what it wants to be. Not that every movie needs to go down one single path, of course.

However, Killer makes a terrible mess of things given its inability to commit to any particular vibe. It mixes black comedy and melodrama and brutal violence without any obvious rationale, so the choices don’t work.

Some of the worst music I’ve ever heard in a movie further damages the final product. We get lots of pop music, and these choices give the film a weirdly jaunty feel that makes no sense for what we see.

Okay, I presume that some of the selections intend to depict Willy’s warped POV. However, the film fails to depict these potential choices well, so we wind up left with strange and off-putting musical selections the vast majority of the time.

None of the actors manage to do much with their poorly written roles. Busey varies between Cartoon Serial Killer Bonkers and smooth/charming, with no real logic to the performance.

Ling gives us a degrading stereotypical take on the Asian hooker, and no one else rises above a level of mediocre. Granted, I can’t blame them too much due to the issues with the script, but the performances nonetheless sputter.

As does everything else connected to this misbegotten mess. Someone could make a compelling film out of the lurid subject matter, but Pig Killer does virtually nothing right.

Footnote: a surprisingly long tag scene appears after the end credits.

Pig Killer appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This turned into a solid image.

Sharpness largely worked fine. Occasionally interiors came across as a bit soft, but the majority of the movie appeared pretty accurate and well-defined.

No signs of jagged edges or moiré effects appeared, and I saw no edge haloes. Print flaws also failed to manifest.

Colors opted for a heavy sense of orange and amber, so other hues popped up only sporadically. Within this limited palette, the tones felt well-rendered.

Blacks seemed deep and dense, while shadows offered good delineation. I found little about which to complain here.

On the other hand, the film came with an oddly unbalanced DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack. In particular, the mix featured music in the back channels far too actively.

The movie came with pop songs nearly non-stop, and they used the rear speakers to a dominant degree. While the music didn’t quite overwhelm the rest of the material, it nonetheless turned into a distraction.

It didn’t help that the rest of the mix tended to feel borderline monaural. Speech and effects concentrated on the forward domain, but they didn’t show much breadth or movement.

Audio quality worked fine, at least, as dialogue appeared natural and concise. Effects boasted good accuracy as well.

Music felt fairly vivid and full. Despite these positives, the awkward and off-kilter soundfield made this a “C-“ mix.

When we head to extras, we get two featurettes under Behind the Scenes. The first concentrates on actor Ginger Lynn Allen (6:04), while the second features actor Michael Paré (3:07) along with director Chad Ferrin.

Allen looks at aspects of her career and her work on Killer, while Paré mostly goofs around on the set. The Paré reel seems fairly useless, but Allen appears surprisingly blunt, especially as she discusses her time in adult films.

30 Deleted/Alternate Scenes occupy a total of 34 minutes, 57 seconds. Take that number of sequences as approximate because the disc presents them as a montage that can make it tough to tell when one segment ends and another begins.

However many we find, expect them to offer next to nothing of interest. These tend to ramble and feel more like outtakes, so they become tedious.

Next comes a 24-minute, 57-second Q&A. Along with moderator Xavier Mendik, it brings a chat among Allen, Ferrin and actor Jake Busey.

Conducted online, we learn about the project’s origins, research and development, cast and performances, and related topics. This turns into a moderately informative program but it leans a little fluffy.

Pig Mask Progress lasts a mere 27 seconds and shows the movie’s mask in its early stage. It lacks much value.

With Canadian Bacon, we get an 11-minute, 40-second “making of” program. It involves Ferrin, Busey, Allen, director of photography Jeff Billings, sound man Steve Hitselberger, makeup effects Joe Castro and actors Robert Miano, Susan Priver, Kristi McHugh, Bai Ling, Kurt Bonzell, and Jennifer Drake.

Essentially a production diary, “Bacon” brings a mix of soundbites and shots from the set. Though not especially coherent, “Bacon” manages some decent notes.

Spunky the Pig spans four minutes, 34 seconds and focuses on the movie’s lead porcine actor. It delivers another competent reel.

In an odd addition, we get a 51-second Screentest in which Kate Patel plays Willy. I have no idea whether they actually considered this gender-bending casting.

Auditions goes for 11 minutes, seven seconds and brings try-out videos for Brian Burke, Burt Culver, Craig, and Eli Rahn. None of these people can act, which makes the compilation perversely compelling.

Along with both “green band” and “red band” trailers, the disc finishes with a music video for “Nickel Charm Jack” by G Tom Mac. We get a bad 80s-style song and a clumsy mix of lip-synch and movie scenes for the video.

Despite a subject that seemed likely to create a dark thriller, Pig Killer instead becomes an erratic, often campy disaster. With no consistency or drama on display, the movie sputters from start to finish. The Blu-ray offers very good audio along with oddly unbalanced audio and a mix of bonus features. Expect a terrible film.