Hogmaul: The Legend of Abrams County

Director - Nap Bishop
Starring - Chris Beck, Tina Berry, and Gabrielle Bodroghy
Release Date - 2014
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Tagline - "There's a fine line between man and swine"
Format - DVD (Borrowed)

Rating (out of 5):

      Before 2010 the world of horror lacked films where the killer wore a pig mask.  We had the classic Motel Hell and the Troma distributed film Pigs but other than that we had nothing.  Cue in the indie filmmaker Eamon Hardiman and his slasher comedy Porkchop.  Since then we have more pig masked killers than we know what to do with.  Aside from the Porkchop trilogy and spin-off Pig Girl, we now have Squeal, Madison County, Piggy, and now the 2013 flick Hogmaul.  Most modern flicks I review are either requests or films I just recently discovered, however, Hogmaul is one I have heard about through friends.  This is a film that several indie horror fans have told me about and warned me to stay away.  Not because the film sucked horse cock (cause it doesn't) but because the film blatantly ripped off Porkchop in more way than one.  This is something I want to address before I get to the actual movie so I can at least discuss it in a respectful manner.  Hogmaul clearly stole the film's artwork and marketing material from Hardiman's Porkchop film.  The swine head with weapons underneath resembling a skull and crossbones is something Hardiman had done three years prior, as well as, the films actual DVD cover featuring a pig masked killer standing menacingly wielding a weapon.  To be a thief they sure did go about it as if that had nothing a hide!
     Hogmaul follows the mis-adventures of a small town who is plagued with a series of murders and disappearances. The town chalks it up to an urban legend called Hogmaul.  Hogmaul is more of a cryptozoological creature and even has a few weirdos that is obsessed with him.  We then meet our local sheriff and his new deputy that is from the big city.  The two get called on a missing person case and head out into the woods to investigate.  We are also introduced to a group of twenty-somethings as they plan to steal some pot plants out in the woods.  Finally, we also meet a Hogmaul fanatic who is out in the woods searching for evidence of Hogmaul's existence.  They all eventually cross paths with the killer pig.
     I went into this film highly fucking pissed when I realized they did steal all the hard work Eamon Hardiman had put into his film.  I find this to be a cowards tactic and I hope someone does the same to Nap as he did to Eamon if he ever has ideas of his own instead of stealing others.  With that being said, I kinda liked this film even though it was one I already liked before. The acting in this one is bad but not horrible.  This is the kind of acting I like to call "indie rich."  The cast tried but lacked the experience or directing needed to make their roles believable.  The story for this one is the exact same as Porkchop except we are missing the the fucking awesome Burt Flemming.  Flemming is one of the many highlights of Porkchop but this film lacked a similar character but kept the rest of the film the same.  Finally, the film has several death scenes but most took place off camera resulting in a lot of disappoint for the slasher fans.  Overall, Hogmaul is a film that could have been fun if they would have tried to be original instead of thieving cowards.  Avoid this and go grab a copy of Hardiman's Porkchop trilogy instead!