Shadows on the Wall

Pig Hill

dir Kevin Lewis
scr Jarrod Burris
prd RA Mihailoff, Marty Schiff, Kevin Lewis
with Rainey Qualley, Shane West, Shiloh Fernandez, Emma Coleman, Olivia Allen, Jeff Monahan, Dino Tripodis, Max Barsness, RA Mihailoff, Tammy Pescatelli, Isabella Brenza, Kirby Griffin
release UK Aug.25 frf
25/US 1h40

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Punctuated with sudden violence and freak-out images of people wearing pig heads, this horror thriller is fairly relentless in its dark approach. Scenes play out with super-high intensity, as director Kevin Lewis ramps everything up exponentially, including camerawork, performances, music and gore. And while the narrative travels through oddly spurious sequences on its way to the horrible truth, it never seems to be daytime in this small town.

At the make-out spot on Pig Hill, nine women have vanished, apparently abducted by the mythical "pig people". Recently returned to his hometown, Andy (West) brings a box of books to sell in the second-hand shop where Carrie (Qualley) works. She's annoyed with her protective brother Chris (Fernandez), because he's kept in touch with her estranged husband. So she agrees to go out with Andy in an attempt to start again. While looking into the mysterious local folktale about pig people, they meet friendly hog farmer Giovanni (Tripodis). And things quickly spiral out of control.

Shadowy cinematography reflects the demons that are haunting each of the characters. After being abandoned by her husband, Carrie is feeling vulnerable. And it probably doesn't help that she's writing a book about the pig people. Andy is grieving the death of his son and breakdown of his marriage. And as Chris takes huge exception to Andy for no real reason, he is also working to stay clean. Because everything takes place in underlit settings with an eerie red glow, the horrors these people experience aren't easy to see.

Emotions are so heightened that the actors are fairly limited in playing more nuanced aspects of the characters. But there are a few relaxed moments early on that help us root for Qualley's sharp Carrie, West's determined Andy and even Fernandez's control-freak Chris. As events get nastier, other characters add intriguing perspectives, such as a salty local man (Monahan) and a helpful hypnotherapist (Allen). But there's little to these people beyond the basic requirements of the script.

There are intriguing ideas woven in here about the origins and effects of local folklore. And this narrative whips that into a frenzy of fantastical rumours about monsters breeding with humans. But of course we suspect that the real terror is something more down to earth, connected to abuse, trauma and sinister manipulation. So even if the script feels thin and unnecessarily brutal, the movie's impressive visual impact might make it a cult hit.

themes, language, violence 20.Aug.25

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