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Perfect cast and a good story

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Produced & directed by legendary character actor Marc Lawrence - known for his many gangster roles - the somewhat obscure curiosity "Daddy's Deadly Darling" (a.k.a. "Pigs" and "The 13th Pig") is nothing if not interesting. It's actually kind of appealing in its warped way, largely because it's just so sincere. The dialogue (screenplay by Mr. Lawrence, billed as "F.A. Foss") isn't always the greatest, but it's delivered with as much gravitas as the cast can muster. It's well shot by Glenn Roland and features a haunting refrain and score by the consistently reliable Charles Bernstein ("A Nightmare on Elm Street" '84, "Cujo").This is largely a vehicle for Marcs' daughter Toni, a pretty and leggy young woman who stars as Lynn, a mystery lady running from something who arrives in a small California community. She takes a job as a waitress in a local cafe, working for a man named Zambrini (Mr. Lawrence), an elderly man who lived through a devastating accident when he worked for a circus. On Zambrinis' property are a dozen pigs, and it is rumored by the locals that these pigs got used to the taste of human flesh long ago, and that Zambrini will resort to murder of drifters in order to keep these pigs fed.Ultimately, the developments in Lawrences' story aren't all that surprising, but the presentation is just offbeat and atmospheric enough to make this an intriguing viewing. Ms. Lawrence does a decent job as the disturbed Lynn, and her dad is likable (for a change) as Zambrini takes a paternalistic care towards his new employee. '70s drive-in favorite Jesse Vint is fine as the local sheriff, and there are other solid contributions by Jim Antonio, Catherine Ross, Paul Hickey, Walter Barnes, and Erik Holland.It's commendable that boutique labels such as Vinegar Syndrome, which released this one on DVD & Blu-ray this year, are doing such a fine job of resurrecting little known cult / exploitation titles like this and giving them such impressive presentations.Eight out of 10.

Yet another Troma acquisition which was clearly meant for Something Weird Video. Pigs, aka, Daddy's Deadly Darlings is one of about a thousand inept, no-budget rural Horrors's from the same era. Few of which are not even half as inept as this one. Directed by Marc Lawrence, and starring daughter, Toni Lawrence, as a crazy person (Lynn) on the run after stabbing her pa to death, after a raping. This chick knows how to disappear, as she couldn't have found a more empty nothing of a town if she tried. Lynn finds work and a place to chill with local crazy person, Zambrini, a pig farmer. The fact that Lynn starts to kill people normally might not go over too well with the old man, but his extremely noisy pigs only happen to eat human flesh, so, he's actually glad to have her around. It's just a win-win situation. On the back of the DVD case, it says Pigs has paved the way for stuff like Last House On The Left, and The Hills Have Eyes, and well, it also refers to Pigs as a cult classic. Sorry, guys, but I wouldn't even call that an exaggeration. This is a terrible, dull pile of garbage and to be honest, I'm having a hard time thinking of stuff to say about it. Although, the fact that Pigs was clearly edited by someone who is legally blind, always makes me laugh. That really is the best part. Seeing pieces of scenes repeat themselves is rare, even in the world of B-cinema. So, Pigs definitely deserves extra points for that. Other than that, not really any gore to speak of (unless I missed it), and no witty one-liners to make you chuckle, and well, not really much of anything but terrible lighting, irritating squeals, and a keen little song which sorta reflects the premise. Not a good movie. Hell, not even a good B-movie, but if you like 'em bad, then you're in for a good time. 5/10

After a pre-credit sequence which takes a principled stand against childhood sexual abuse by showing an older adult male's hand feeling up the bottom of a voluptuous and very mature-looking "teenager", this movie gets right down to business with it's two chief exploitative elements--sex, of course, and pigs (which is what this movie was originally called). The plot revolves around two psychos--a sexually active young woman (apparently the grown-up version of the "teenager" from the pre-credit sequence) who murders her many male conquests, and her elderly partner-in-crime, a pig farmer who feeds the bodies to his porkers. This movie thus is basically a rural version of Mantis in Lace with the LSD sequences replaced by surreal footage of rampaging pigs. Still it should be admired for its sheer audacity and its bizarre and ludicrous plot (it's totally original if nothing else). It also manages to shoe-horn in one of the most hypocritical feminist themes this side of I Spit on Your Grave. What a bucket of slop!

Possible minor spoilers.This incredibly odd little picture (which I saw as Pigs) almost defies description. Mark Lawrence made the film as a vehicle for his daughter, Toni, with Jesse Vint appearing as a favor. Toni is Lynn Webster (referred to at the end, for some unexplained reason, as Lynn Hart), whose history of madness and patricide is relayed in less than five minutes. This loopy Linda Lovelace-lookalike then escapes the nut barn in a stolen Volkswagen and nurse's uniform. She ends up at a middle-of-nowhere cafe, working for Zambrini (Marc), who robs graves and feeds the corpses to his bloodthirsty pigs. When our busty, batty heroine is reminded of abusive rapist Daddy, she grabs the nearest sharp object and starts hacking. Zambrini and his pigs cover for her. The sheriff (Vint) mostly stands around looking puzzled.Pigs is an absolute wonder to behold--jerky editing, leering camerawork, pointless characters, a funky soundtrack ("Somebody's waitin' for you/Somewhere down the road/Keep on drivin'...") that starts and stops of its own accord, an obvious double for Toni at the end...and somehow it all works brilliantly! It's like some bizarre hallucination from the brain of the disturbed heroine. Pigs squeal like rusty vaults being forced open, Lynn go-gos next to the jukebox, old women look scared--doesn't matter why. The acid-trip plot and cheap, over-saturated color give it a kind of creepy-beautiful tone reminiscent of an underground art film, with a perfect atmosphere of backwoods isolation. The Lawrences are terrific, particularly the appealing Toni, and the supporting players are quite convincing. The music makes me wish for a soundtrack LP. If a film ever had Cult Classic stamped all over it, it's this one.