PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Kevin Lewis, brains behind Willy’s Wonderland and his newest film, Pig Hill, is quickly gaining attention in the horror community. We had a chance to sit down with Kevin and produced an awesome interview.
PopHorror: What inspired your love for horror movies?
Kevin Lewis: Oh, wow. God, everything. You know, again, I think good horror is good drama. So it’s the characters and what they’re going through, and then the idea of you can take something and aesthetically do some really different and interesting things to it with the camera and with lighting, right? So, I think horror is a great genre to play around w.ith, you know, and you can be very experimental with it, and it’s got the best fans, right? I mean, come on. What was the drive for story on Pig Hill? Well, I read the book Pig by Nancy Williams. It’s a great book, and I love the idea of taking this journey with the lead character of Carrie and what she’s going through. It’s a pig creature movie, but you know, it is and it isn’t, and I like that. The idea that we live in a gaslighting culture. I think there’s a lot to that in this movie that kind of speaks to the times, and also things about the darkness of man, and what the brutality of man and man could be pretty incredible and build things, but that they can tear it down even quicker. So, a lot of that is going on in it that that’s what really attracted me to the story.
PopHorror: The movie didn’t seem very rushed at all. How long did it take to film?
Kevin Lewis: We filmed it in 20 days. It was really cool. Meadville is a small town, so all the places it was like a back lot. I could go and all the different places, you know, you know, the bars over here, right across from the jail, you know, and we have a swimming pool that we built the cages in. And right next door, it was a church, you know, and then we had to go to a farm, and that was a little traveling out on some things, but a lot of the locations were very close together. So I was able to do a lot of looks in those twenty days, you know,
PopHorror: Even outdoors, the color palette is just a little dim, like almost blue light. Was that intentional, like during all the scenes?
Kevin Lewis: Absolutely. I mean, what’s funny is night is black, right? But in the movies, it’s beautiful blue. I just liked it colorful. I wanted a color palette for this movie and so I that’s why I chose that. You know, Pig Hill is very dialogue-driven. Would you consider it a thriller or more of a smart horror? I think it’s a little bit of both, but I definitely think it’s got a thriller to it. Psychological thriller for sure.
PopHorror: There’s such a creative backstory behind the main characters. Would you consider Pig Hill more like a think piece, maybe, and like you said, a sign of the times?
Kevin Lewis: Yes. And that’s what I liked about it. There are different horror movies like we just talked about, right? There’s slasher horror and body horror, and there’s all kinds of stuff. And one of my favorite horror movies is The Shining, and that’s a psychological horror, you know? So, I kind of, that’s kind of the vibe I wanted for this movie, where it’s like, yeah, it’s there’s a drama and there are things going on, more psychological things, you know? And so yeah, it’s definitely, it’s not fair fire, you know, but that’s the thing. It’s like that’s what the narrative was. That’s to me. And that’s what I was excited about. You know, I like diving into the human condition a lot. You know what inspired the pig people, and like their demeanor, talking to a lot of people about the legend, and just hearing what they imagine the pig people being or looking like, or who they were. So, I guess research and then coming up with ideas of like, you could think of a mask, but if you look at a mask in a normal light and maybe not scary and how you light it and everything, it’s very different, right? So, you know, I work with Jason Baker, who did the Grabber mask in The Black Phone, and just kind of trial and error and back and forth to what we thought the mask looked like with the stitches and things like that.
PopHorror: The story suggests that the killer likes to let certain people live. Is that how pig people are created?
Kevin Lewis: Yeah, she’s doing research on the pig people. It’s kind of like what she’s been taking in and what she sees and what she thinks. And again, it goes more to the mind, and kind of like what makes these things tick. And are they people or the leper colony thing, or like they’re just so many different variations. That’s what’s so interesting about Meadville. They have so many different ideas about the pig people, so trying to narrow that down and also giving a lot of flavors to it. This is one of the big questions for me. Were there any scenes in the film that made you uncomfortable to like, watch it acted out? Gosh, you know, it probably sounds like a sicko if I say no. The thing is, I know I’m making a movie, and I’ve been thinking about this movie for a long time, right? And so, at the end of the day, it’s work. It’s like I’m making this film, and there are things when you look at the monitor and stuff, you’re like, wow. But I’m always kind of the outside looking in. It’s like, oh, that’s a great shot. The lighting’s good, the performance is good. Looking at the script, is that what it’s trying to tell? Am I telling that in that shot of this scene? So, I guess that I’m looking more analytical, so it doesn’t really creep me out. And of course, then when you’re cutting it and putting it together and whatever, you’re just numb to it. Because to me, it’s my movie that I’ve been working on and thinking about this whole time. So yeah, I guess I’d say no.
PopHorror: Compared to Willy’s Wonderland, do you feel like it was a hard switch to flip to directing a much darker story?
Kevin Lewis: No, because that’s more of who I am. I’m definitely more into drama. I’m more into conflict and more into the human condition. With Willy’s, it’s so interesting in Hollywood because it’s such a creative place, but they’re very limited sometimes. So, like when you do something like a Willy’s, they think, well, that’s all you do, you know, and I want to get out of that box a little bit. I do feel Willie Piggy has a little Willy’s in it in terms of the aesthetic of style, but it’s definitely different content and everything. And so, I just want to flex those muscles a little bit and show people I could do something a little different. And I am always trying to challenge myself and maybe people that see some of my movies, they never know, like, oh, that’s Kevin Lewis. So, OK, well, maybe they’re going to get something a little different and that’s exciting for me as a filmmaker.
PopHorror: The ending of the film, like he’s saying, that there may be a sequel. Is that your intention?
Kevin Lewis: You know, it’s interesting. The writer and the producers, of course they’ve always talked about a sequel. I’m at the point where I try to put everything into the movie as it is. So honestly, I haven’t really thought of a sequel. It would be amazing to do. I would love it. I’d love to be a part of that world and build upon that world, and some ideas are floating around, but that was never in my mind. I just want to make the best movie possible that people can enjoy.
Thank you so much to Kevin for taking the time to chat with us. Pig Hill comes to Digital December 9, 2025!
