Every generation has its monster.
— Tagline for the film
Pitchfork is a 2016 American Slasher Movie directed and cowritten by Glenn Douglas Packard.
Hunter Killian (Brian Raetz) is on a road trip to Michigan with his seven friends when they decide to stop by Hunter's family's home for a barn dance that night. Hunter's family is willing to oblige them (though Hunter's dad is somewhat reluctant), and good times ensue.
Well, they ensue at first anyway. However, what they don't know is that there's some psychopath in the area in an animal skin mask and a really rusted pitchfork for a hand who's going around killing everyone that he can. And before long, everyone's trying to escape him.
The movie was released at the Hot Springs Horror Film Festival on September the 23rd, 2016.
Pitchfork contains examples of:
- Animal Lover: Hunter's little sister Jenny. This allows her to get through to Pitchfork: by treating him like an angry dog rather than the slasher villain he is.
- Big Damn Heroes: Jenny storms the Holister's basement and shoots Mr. Holister's hand off.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: The killer has a pitchfork shoved into the (visibly infected) stump of his right arm.
- Blasting It Out of Their Hands: Given a Surprisingly Realistic Outcome, as mentioned under Fingore. Ie, it rips the victim's fingers off.
- Coming-Out Story: The reason Hunter is in town is so he can come out to his redneck parents, with his friends there as emotional support. Predictably, his father is unenthused about it.
- Damsel in Distress: Jenny gets kidnapped by the killer early in the movie. Thankfully, she gets rescued before the killer can hurt her.
- The Dog Bites Back: Almost literally. Ben/Pitchfork bites out Mrs. Holister's throat.
- Duct Tape for Everything: The Holisters use duct tape to tie up Hunter's hands and gag his mouth in their basement.
- Dwindling Party: The film starts with Hunter, his eight friends, his sister Jenny, and his parents. By the end, that number has been whittled down to Hunter, Lenox, Jenny, and Ben Holister.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Downplayed. The evil and psychotic Holisters can't understand what "love" is or why it's important. Mrs. Holister launches into a five-minute soliloquy on how love is bullshit when Lennox tells Hunter she loves him.
- Fingore: Jenny blows Mr. Holister's fingers off before he can put a bullet in Hunter's head.
- Hillbilly Horrors: Pitchfork is an inbred, insane country lad. His parents are also hicks; less crazy (they can at least talk rather than animalistically grunt and snarl) but no less awful.
- Impaled Palm: Mr. Holister nails Hunter's hands to the table with steak knives. This comes back to bite him when Jenny rescues the teenagers. Hunter slaps him on either side of the head with the knives still stuck in his hands, stabbing Mr. Holister in the brain.
- Madwoman in the Attic: Ben "Pitchfork" Holister is usually kept in the family basement.
- Megaton Punch: During the barn dance, one of the guys cheats on his girlfriend. When aforesaid girlfriend confronts the homewrecker, they get into an argument and she punches her in the face. Once. The Other Woman goes down like a sack of potatoes.
"Oops. You landed on your back. You must feel right at home, slut."
- Mental Handicap, Moral Deficiency: Exaggerated. Pitchfork is so insane that he acts more like a poorly-socialized dog than a human being. Jenny thinks it's because Being Tortured Makes You Evil, but the Jury's still out on wether he was born bonkers or his evil parents made him that way.
- One-Word Title: Well, the movie IS called Pitchfork.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: The Holisters are sexist, homophobic, and ableist.
- Rape as Drama: Pitchfork orally rapes one of his victims before gutting her.
- The Reveal: The killer is Ben Holister, the son of Hunter's family's psychotic neighbours.
- Villainous Incest: Implied when Ben's mom stuffs her hands down the front of her son's pants.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: A rather non-erotic example in the killer, who only wears an animal skin mask, dirty torn brown pants, and equally brown shoes.
- Weapon Title: Pitchfork, naturally.