Pig Hill is directed by Kevin Lewis, and the cast includes Rainey Qualley, Shane West, Shiloh Fernandez, R.A. Mihailoff, Emma Kotos and Isabella Brenza.
My Thoughts on Pig Hill
Carrie (Rainey Qualley), is someone obsessed with the legend of Pig Hill, with a need to confront the myth she grew up hearing, while her brother, Chris (Shiloh Fernandez), balances her curiosity with genuine worry, and her love interest Andy (Shane West) brings a quiet steadiness to it all as they explore the legend.
Pig Hill has some decent tension at times, where you see the ripple effects of the fear, featuring local gossip, whispered warnings, and a mix of curiosity and terror, but I did wish the film had leaned into this tension a bit more.
It focuses quite heavily on Carrie, and some of the stakes end up feeling smaller than they could have been, and you will probably find yourself predicting who the killer might be well before the reveal, and I think that’s partly because the town’s reaction wasn’t really fully explored as much as it could have been.
Pig Hill will also test your endurance, as the film contains some graphic scenes, and offers no concessions to more sensitive viewers, and what begins as an aggressively obscene depiction of violence mutates into a police procedural with a slasher finale.
The tonal shifts are abrupt and cumulative, and interpretation is less invited than endured.
The horror elements themselves are pretty effective though mostly, depending on your tastes, and Kevin Lewis does a good job balancing the film’s tone, and it reminded me a bit of shows like The X-Files at times, as it felt more like the same sort of mood transplanted into a story grounded in local legend and small-town dynamics.
Some of the violence on play in Pig Hill do feel like they exist just to prove a point rather than serve the story though, and, I never found myself bored, as I was invested enough in the characters and the setting that even some of the slower moments held my interest enough.
The performances overall were strong too, with Rainey Qualley and Shane West having good chemistry while Shiloh Fernandez, as Chris, brings frustration, protectiveness, and heartbreak to the role, and while Pig Hill doesn’t reach the scope of the movies it nods to, it doesn’t pretend to be anything other than a story about fear, curiosity, and the consequences of urban legend, and I do respect the film for trying something that wasn’t straightforward.
It’s an uneven ride, but one worth taking if you’re willing to follow the characters through their fears, their obsessions, and their small victories, and can stomach the more brutal scenes and ignore some plot points.
It was OK is what I am saying, nothing more than that.