A woman investigates her town’s local legend of pig people in the messy Pig Hill, directed by Kevin Lewis and written by Jarrod Burris, and presented as part of FrightFest 2025.
I’m a big fan of urban legends. I love storytelling on the whole. With degrees in English Literature and Film Studies and a Master’s in teaching the same and Social Studies, the stories people tell and why are of major interest. Local lore, ghost stories, cryptids, urban legends, and everything else in that realm reveal local cultures and histories. The word-of-mouth, hand-me-down stories of this nature are also ripe for exploration in the cinematic world. They often with a background of misery, generations building it up, hidden histories, and if done right, lend a verisimilitude of town life. Unfortunately, Pig Hill, based on local legends in Meadville, Pennsylvania, fumbles the concept with a messy story, poor acting, effects, and infuriating lighting.
Carrie is obsessed with the legends of the pig people said to reside outside of Meadville, a small town in rural northwestern Pennsylvania. It’s rumored that pig-human crossbreeds live in the titular location, kidnapping women for nefarious means. Folks who visit the woods: teenagers, vagrants, a pair of drug dealers offed in the opening scene (the last blood for a long time) say they see the pig-headed folks running about. In recent years, at least 10 women have gone missing; strangely, the town blames the pigpeople but does nothing about it with a shrug.
She’s writing a book on the subject (though her research methods are half-assed and poorly thought out), but also dealing with life’s complications. Her ex-husband is being a jerk about everything, and her brother is pushy and controlling, especially after she connects with the recent arrival of a Wall Street guy who lost everything. All the drama and horror ramp up as she delves into the legends, digging to find the truth.
In a nice touch, Pig Hill is filmed in the setting. As a former resident of western Pennsylvania, the look of the town strikes memories of my youth. Using the source lends fine versimilitude; the lived-in, low-key town and its residents create the tone. When we can see it, that is. I mentioned the lighting above. Director Lewis, best known for the Nicolas Cage-led Willy’s Wonderland, and the team opt for the “try to create a mood by not lighting it” method. Just about every interior screams, “dammit, turn on a light!” Many times, they go for giallo coloring, especially in the finale. I’m a giallo fan, but the use here doesn’t fit. The stills attached to this review are typical of what we see, or don’t. (One could argue they are going for grindhouse, but the movie takes itself far too seriously for it to be true.)
Speaking of the finale: No details, but the reveal/climax/ending/etc is bad. Bad. bad. Bad. A villain speech that goes on and on and on, with an atrocious reveal and explanation. It sits poorly and is of awful taste overall. Nor does it make sense at all to what’s been presented elsewhere in the film. It’s a doubly awful way to end an already not strong film.
The issues of Pig Hill are prevalent well before the eventual conclusion. Jarrod Burris’s script meanders around the ideas of the plot. Subplots or avenues of story, such as Carrie working at a shelter, are dropped (after a grisly sequence). Characters’ actions shift from scene to scene. No one seems to have any direction for their acting. The most known person of the cast, kind-of-boyfriend Andy, played by Shane West, seems confused. Carrie is played by Rainey Qualley, sister of The Substance’s Margaret, and she’s bland. Her reactions and readings to everything are the same, whether she’s flirting with a guy selling books or watching someone cut their own throat.
Frankly, it’s all a mess. What it says, how it says it, how the story progresses, it’s all an unfocused jumble. It doesn’t help that Qualley and West fumble through their performances, with little to remain drawn in outside of maybe seeing some decent effects and bloody bits. Kevin Lewis’s Pig Hill wastes a good concept, of turning an urban legend into a full feature, set and shot in the home of the legend.
Pig Hill played as part of FrightFest, running August 21st through 25th.