I love pigs, but there’s something about them that is extremely frightening. Their cloven feet. Their willingness to eat anything and everything. Their inherent likeness to humans. Black Ave Films’ Swine and Dine short brings that squealy creepiness to the screen when a slaughter house representative is taught a lesson by a local farm.
Horror shorts are an awesome way to get ideas out there with not only a small budget, but just the right amount of screams. Swine and Dine is no different. With most of the film taking place in a barn house and surrounding countryside, our three main characters have their time to shine. Fiona (Kelsey Rhea), Hampton (Mark Haynes), and Mary Jo (Michelle Santiago) each give a stellar performance as Fiona begs for mercy against the deranged farm couple Hampton and Mary Jo. We’re straight into the action here with the filmmakers giving just enough backstory to propel us into a world of terror.
While the filmmakers can certainly pride themselves on story, budget, and casting, the real star of Swine and Dine is the special effects team. Hampton not only owns livestock — he’s livestock himself! Fit with prosthetic pig parts, including a snout and two rows of teats, he’s a hulking beast bathed in the blood of those who come to harm animals. Fiona is given the proper welcome fitting someone in the meat packing industry — a bloody game of This Little Piggy. The splatter is splattering. The deaths are death-defying. Swine and Dine‘s visual and practical effects are highly memorable for only being 20 minutes long!
And is that a themed song during the end credits, I hear?! The cherry on top!
Swine and Dine has been making its way around the festival circuit and I can only imagine the faces of the audience members when they get to the end. I myself and smiling ear to ear. I’ve said this time and time again — and will keep on saying it ’til the cows, or pigs, come home — but it’s pieces like this that make horror so fun to watch. Black Ave Films shows your ideas aren’t at all limited by your budget; all it takes for a movie to be memorable is a fan of fear.
Join in on the fun! Visit Black Ave Films on Instagram. Contribute to the Swine and Dine Ingiegogo campaign. And check them out on YouTube and their website.
