Director – Michael Rodriguez (Lamb Feed, Homewrecked)
Starring – Sparkle Soojian (Missed Call, It Calls), Nikki Jones Curtis (Prey By Night, GhettoBusters), and Tino Zamora (5G Zombies, Last American Horror Show)
Release Date – 2020
Rating – 3.5/5
Several years ago I befriended filmmaker Michael Rodriguez when he was posting about his horror short Night of the Sea Monkey: A Disturbing Tale. Those of you that know me knows that a movie about a killer sea monkey is right up my alley. Since then he has released some seriously entertaining and brutal horror shorts upon the world. He is definitely a filmmaker I would recommend to the more serious horror fans out there.
Sometime back I saw posts from Rodriguez about his newest short Day of the Pigs. Because Rodriguez was behind it I knew it was going to be a good one but time got away from me and I forgot to follow up with him about the project. A few days back Michael reached out to me to review the short and I couldn’t say yes fast enough. Thanks Michael!
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows three masked robbers who pull off a day time heist. They succeed but one of them is shot in the chest. To prevent him from slowing them down they shoot him in the head and burn the car with the body inside. They walk for sometime with the cash until they come across a farm with two very lovely ladies. They invite the men in and offer them something to drink. Soon they find themselves changing into a swine like creature. **Spoiler Alert**
Day of the Pigs is not a straight forward horror tale which really shows how versatile Rodriguez is as a filmmaker. Horror may be his passion but he has an eye for film. He really could make any style of film if he put his mind to it. Day of the Pigs is a great crime based exploitation film that ends with some classic horror. It was well worth the wait.
The acting in this one is pretty fucking good. The characters all stand out and their personalities work very well with the story being told. In fact, I liked the characters so much that I wish the film was just a little longer. They all did a fantastic job and the cast really does a fantastic job at bringing these characters to life.
The story for this one is pretty bold for an indie short. We have a daring day time heist before moving into a character driven narrative before finishing out with some a fun Tales from the Crypt style twist. It’s short, quick to the point, and very little time is wasted on bullshit. I really like how this story was approached and it’s done very well.
Finally, this one has a little blood but nothing that stands out or is memorable. However, the make-up effects for the transformation was not what I was expecting. I really loved how this was approached and done. It looked fantastic. Overall, Day of the Pigs is another fantastic short from Michael Rodriguez. The blend of crime and horror fits very well and his grindhouse approach really makes the film that more enjoyable. I highly recommend checking this out.
