For those of you who are located outside of the Garden State, a publication exists that’s fondly referred to as Weird NJ. Weird NJ started as a magazine, made the shift to internet articles, and has become one of the most popular past-times in New Jersey history. Basically, New Jersey is a hot spot for abandoned buildings, dangerous and winding roads, and scary dark woods; all of which have an original, disturbing tale usually dealing with the ghosts, KKK members, occult members, serial killers, or other supernatural forces – and Weird NJ puts all of these fables and locations in one place. Folks of all ages make trips to these gems, all in hopes of getting scared out of their wits. The short film Pig Lady is based off of a legend in central New Jersey, a location I once lived about a half hour from. There are several versions of the story, however, the origin of Pig Lady that I grew up with saw Pig Lady’s horrible appearance being the result of a bad fire where she was left to die on the Dorris Duke property. Deranged, and out of her mind from disgust with herself, she haunts the road and attacks anyone who stops their car, flashes their lights, and yells, “Pig Lady!”
Pig Lady is written by and directed by Thomas De Napoli and Steve Makowski. Cast members include Sarah Clements (“One Life to Live”), Troy Gentile (“The Goldbergs”), Molly Groome, Ryan McFadden (editor on “SpongeBob Squarepants”), Alex Shaffer (The Lifeguard), Morgan West (Airplane vs. Volcano). Matt Walton (“All My Children”), and Stephanie Little.
Pig Lady follows, “a teenage guy who tries to impress a girl by agreeing to face down the Pig Lady – an axe wielding humanoid pig creature. All hell breaks loose when they discover that the legend actually exists.” I probably didn’t need to provide the synopsis for you all to figure out what this film was about, but still! You need to soak it all up while you can.
Pig Lady is classified as a horror-comedy by De Napoli and Makowski, but I don’t know if I agree with the titling. Sure, this short film has a little off-brand humor, but I wouldn’t consider it largely a comedy. If anything, I’d say Pig Lady is a light hearted horror film. It’s not intense, it’s not disturbing and overly gory, and it’s not going to haunt your nightmares for weeks to come. But, that doesn’t mean it’s not a full fledged horror film. The plot, the action, the execution, and all the other elements such as characters and progression definitely classify this as a horror flick. It even has a few of the stereotypical horror film character and plot devices. It’s just that people who like AntiChrist and Saw probably aren’t going to be fans.
One of the compliments I can pay this movie is that the acting is well done and from a promising cast. Although they all have noteworthy credits, none of the cast members are big name talent…yet. I would rate their talent level very high, and even higher if I look at them as actors in an independent movie. They clearly came to set with their A-game and it pays off. A lot of fine acting from kids I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of in the future. The characters themselves are well written and easy to sympathize with. My favorite character was Paul (played by Morgan West) and my favorite actor was Troy Gentile. And, really, who doesn’t love a villain of a half pig/half lady played by a male actor who is swinging around an ax at a bunch of teenagers? Come on!
The one big negative that I have to mention is… My god, the CGI blood was beyond horrible. Pig Lady, for being an independent film, has such a high production value, the fact that the CGI blood being so lousy really sticks out to me. It just sprays out unrealistically and looks worse than blood splatters you’d see on the SyFy channel. Never again, guys. You’re better than that.
At the end of my viewing I was left thinking, “That’s it?” Pig Lady was extremely enjoyable from start to finish and it should be viewed as both a positive and a negative that I think it was too short. I wasn’t allowed to totally fall in love with the characters, route for the awkward boy going after his crush, and savoring Pig Lady’s brutal rampage. There just wasn’t enough time to enjoy everything to its fullest. In my twisted head I can think of several ways to turn it into a feature film, and who knows, maybe the two writers and directors will revisit the idea in the future. It goes to show you how much of a fan I am of the film when I’m actually sort of mad that it was a short.
A fun, high quality trip down memory lane with rising talent. You can’t go wrong with this one, folks. If you’re from New Jersey it has enough nostalgia to make your head spin. See it if you get the chance. I rate it a 9 out of 10. Would have been a perfect score it if was even just ten minutes longer!
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