PIGS (1972)
aka DADDY'S DEADLY DARLINGS
Directed by Marc Lawrence
Troma DVD
THE FILM
Pigs has everything. It's
an early 70s exploitation penny
pincher, promising blood-lusting
hogs and a girl with a hot knife.
When the end credits roll, it still
has everything. Unfortunately, somebody
cut the brainstorming sessions short.
Then they made the movie anyway.
Haphazard and quick moving, Pigs
(aka Daddy's Deadly Darlings)
is the directorial debut of the
late Marc Lawrence, an actor mostly
known for gangster roles in the
1940s before his blacklisting in
1950. Pigs was his second and last
job behind the lens. He also wrote
the script, one that kicks off with
a woman murdering her father after
being raped by him. Who was the
lucky chanteuse to land the leading
role? Why, it's Toni Lawrence, daughter
of Marc! Oh, the guilt.
Lynn Hart (Toni Lawrence) is on
the lam. Escaping from an asylum
after murdering her rapist father
(don't worry, we don't see it),
she lands in a moldy backroom shack,
currently owned by ex-circus kook
Zambrini (Marc Lawrence). Zambrini's
diner/mold shack shares space with
his pen of flesh eating pigs. For
the rest of the film, Zambrini feeds
corpses to the pigs at night, while
crazee train Lynn makes good with
a knife. Soon, Mr. Z realizes the
advantages of fresh meat and starts
using Lynn's victims as piggy chow.
There's a little gore here and there.
All's well until Zambrini realizes
the truth: you can't keep a good
nutjob down.
Freudian art-life jiving aside,
Pigs is a stilted weirdie
with a clear disregard for normal
execution. The camera movement is
jagged, the soundtrack is often
abrasive (random screeches from
both humans and pigs), and the editing
has a screw loose. Shots sometimes
repeat themselves for anywhere from
a split second to three. Visually,
it'll keep you guessing, especially
when you throw in the dreary locales.
While this is all certainly grand,
the plot of the film, along with
the magnetism of the characters,
loses steam about halfway through.
Pigs feels like a shoebox
version of Tobe Hooper's later Eaten
Alive; just without that flicker
of absorption. If there was something
more to grab onto, the strange techniques
would have had a best friend. Mostly
though, they're the odd kid out.
There's this bubblegum-psych song
that keeps popping up throughout
Pigs, repeating the words
"keep on driving" on an
endless cycle. That's some good
advice.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Now we're talking! This film is
hilariously dark. The full frame
print is overly tweaked in the contrast
department, with blacks that overtake
everything and colors that hurt
your eyes. There's a fair amount
of dirt and scratching. As mentioned
earlier, split second frames repeat
themselves often, escalating to
a few seconds each towards the end
of the film. I've never seen the
old Paragon release under the title
Daddy's Deadly Darlings,
so I can't tell you if the darkness
and chops have always been there.
The mono sound was extremely loud.
Watch out for the squeals.
EXTRAS
Just a few screens of decent production
notes on the film and the Lawrence
family, topped off with nine Troma
trailers, shorts, and promo reels.
Of course, there's the usual Lloyd
Kaufman introduction, a standard
on every DVD the company releases
(regardless of their involvement
with the film). This intro is actually
kind of funny. Just a little.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you've got to see the underdeveloped
but well intentioned Pigs,
make it a rental. There's a spark
of cracked 1970s filmmaking and
some genuine creeps, but not enough
to keep it fresh for 80 minutes.
Sorry, Lynn.
— Joseph A. Ziemba, 01.26.06 |
It's Toni time
Shock therapy bird
Star struck
Ketchup mishap
|
