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West Virginia hasn’t been treated very well by horror filmmakers.
Films like "Wrong Turn" and "Silent Hill" haven’t exactly presented Appalachia in a good light, which is something Southern West Virginia filmmaker Eamon Hardiman kept in mind with his latest film, "Porkchop."
The film is a throwback to ’80s summer camp slashers like "Sleepaway Camp" and "The Burning," and has a common slasher movie setup: a group of teenagers head into the woods for a weekend of promiscuous sex and alcohol abuse but instead meet their demise at the hands of a masked homicidal maniac.
In the case of "Porkchop," the villain wears a pig mask.
Though "Porkchop" was filmed in many West Virginia small towns – including White Sulphur Springs – the state will not be mentioned.
"Nobody’s too eager to put out a movie that will completely kill tourism," Hardiman said. "I mean, ‘Wrong Turn’ kind of left a bad taste in everybody’s mouths here."
While the premise of "Porkchop" has all the typical elements of the slasher movies that inspired it, Hardiman does guarantee that his film will feature all original death scenes.
"We really strove to make it to where every single kill in this movie hasn’t been seen before," Hardiman said.
"Porkchop" is Hardiman’s third feature film with his production company, Razor Sharp Productions.
His previous films – the micro-budgeted "Vampire Whores from Outer Space" and "Catholic Ghoulgirls" – were released internationally by Brain Damage Films.
Production on "Porkchop" began in August after months of fundraising, including benefit concerts, screenings of Hardiman’s other films, selling producer credits and a T-shirt sale at Charleston, W.Va., bar The Empty Glass.
"That was a big thing; we were kind of surprised," Hardiman said about the t-shirt fundraiser.
Once the $10,000 budget was raised, Hardiman and his crew discovered their biggest hurdle would come from the casting process.
"Apparently, nobody in West Virginia wants to be in a movie, which is kind of mind-blowing to me," Hardiman said.
After some unsuccessful casting calls, Hardiman instead looked to cast more experienced actors from out of state, eventually attracting the attention of actress Ruby LaRocca ("The Lost," "Shadow: Dead Riot").
However, LaRocca’s part was originally meant to be played by Jane Scarlett, her co-star in the film "Flesh for the Beast."
When Scarlett discovered she was unable to act in the film, she contacted LaRocca through Facebook and passed along Hardiman’s information, which eventually lead to her being cast as Deborah, the "uptight" girl of the group.
"You kind of feel bad for her, but at the same time she’s kind of annoying because everybody else wants to party and have a good time, and she’s just being a ‘Debbie Downer,’" LaRocca said of her character, quickly adding that "the pun was intended."
This was LaRocca’s first time working in West Virginia and she was "more than pleasantly surprised" about the whole experience.
"I always get nervous working with people for the first time," LaRocca said. "Everyone on the cast and crew was so nice and really fun to be around. I would only be there for two days at a time, and I felt like I laughed the entire time I was there."
Production has since wrapped on "Porkchop," and Hardiman is hoping that the film will be done by the first week of November, though he said that "we wanted Halloween, but we’re going to miss it."
In the meantime, Hardiman hopes to get the film in festivals and will be holding a fundraiser concert at The Empty Glass on Oct. 11.
The fundraiser will feature performances by Tofujitsu, TJ King and Friend, Boo, The Concept, The Buttonflies, Sierra Ferrell and The Madbats. The "suggested minimum donation" for the event is $5.
All of the proceeds from the event will go toward the festival entry fees for "Porkchop," as Hardiman plans on submitting the film to at least 20 festivals.
With that hope, Hardiman humbly claimed, "hopefully, we’ll get into one."
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