Le colline sanguinano

I could not stop watching this movie and really I never wanted it to end. From the opening titles beautifully underscored by a very creepy sounding version of "Hush little baby" this film dragged me in with is beautiful style and how creepy it was (I'm not gonna give away the first scare but it's incredibly well done and while at first seems random and pointless they do explain why it's there towards the end.

The story uses one of the new standards of horror cinema, the idea of a movie that was made in the 80's but had to stop production due to murders on set. While this isn't a new concept, Cut did it 9 years ago, both the Short film and the feature length with the same title played on the idea of horror films becoming reality, it is a refreshing spin on the tale.

The cast consists of your stock set of horror film characters, from the junkie to the slutty girl but really if you come to a horror movie for characters then you really don't belong here. This film is about the scares, and they come rapid fire.

Sophie Monk in particular delivers a performance that I never thought I'd see her deliver after I saw Date Movie. She makes you love her from the moment she pop's on screen and you root for her the whole way through. She proves how smart she can be with choosing a role with her performance in here and really I reckon if she chooses more roles like this she'll prove she's an actress and not just a great body.

For you gore-hounds, there's blood and gore galore from pretty much start to finish. One of the things that this film does better than a lot of others like it is make the gore scary. Some times you can tell that gore is there just cos they can but that doesn't happen here. Every piece of blood is needed to make the story work like it does and add's to the effectiveness of the movie.

If you can get a copy of this movie do it, don't sit around and wait for a friend to loan it to you go and get it now. One of the few films I really wanna see a sequel for.

...The Hills Run Red does for torture porn flicks. This horror subgenre has been going downhill for a while now, rapidly losing any kind of semblance of a subtext or deeper meaning and only giving its viewers what a lot of them no doubt crave: meaningless and increasingly graphic gore. That the genre got to the point of self-reflexivity may be a good sign - perhaps the dumb torture porn wave is ready to disappear from the mainstream (though the fact that this film is straight-to-DVD might not get it the recognition it deserves). This is not Haneke territory, though - nor it should be -, nevertheless The Hills Run Red provides a nice sarcastic commentary on the shock- and blood-craze of recent mainstream horror cinema. Its philosophy, albeit none too deep, provides a refreshing change of course from similar films. (And dare I say makes its point just as powerfully as the so-called "auteurs" do with their not much subtler films about violence, who get a nice stab in the movie - not literally, though.) Directing is skillful for the most part, however, the level of acting gradually becomes way over the top and hysterical, which is a shame. I wonder when horror directors learn that this kind of bad stage acting style just kills the atmosphere. Crazy psychos can be much more threatening when they are subdued and quiet. All in all, Hills Run Red is a surprisingly solid horror film with more brain than most flicks in its genre. It is taut and its brevity is welcome as well. My only problem is that the plot twist in the second act is totally spoiled by the preview material. It's a huge shame, because it works tremendously in the film but of course only if one goes in unsuspecting.

Tyler (Tad Hilgenbrinck) is obsessed by the horror movie "The Hills Run Red", considered by those that had seen it the scariest movie ever made, with the deranged serial-killer Babyface (Danko Iordanov) in the lead role. However, the director Wilson Wyler Concannon (William Sadler) and the movie vanished many years ago and there is no available print. His research is affecting his relationship with his girlfriend Serina (Janet Montgomery) that is needy and feels neglected. When Tyler discovers that Concannon's daughter Alexa (Sophie Monk) works in a night-club, he decides to meet her and asks about the missing movie. The woman tells that the movie might be in her father's house in the middle of the woods, and Tyler decides to travel to the spot with Alexa, Serina and their friend Lalo (Alex Wyndham). Along their journey, Tyler films and interviews some locals. During the night, they are attacked by the rednecks, but they are saved by Babyface that kills the assaulters and is controlled by Alexa that runs away from him. Tyler, Serina and Lalo get rid off the ropes, but Tyler decides to help Alexa, disclosing fate of the movie.

The gore "The Hills Run Red" is a movie with potential of cult for fans of slasher movies. The gruesome story is original regarding the search of Tyler for the movie and has a great surprise when he discovers the secret about the Concannon's family. William Sadler has a great performance in the role of the insane director and Babyface is a scary character. The conclusion is extremely macabre and dark, and I believe that fans of this genre will like this movie very much like I did. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Colinas de Sangue" ("Hills of Blood")

This is a pretty good "B" slasher movie, and was actually entertaining for most part and the nudity especially by elevates it. Because in slasher movies such as this, the plot doesn't matter as much although it's decent in this film for a slasher flick. The plot was interesting and the acting wasn't that bad either, it can be said the same for the atmosphere and there were some good tense moments as well. The story is about a wannabe slasher director who goes on a hunt for a film called The Hill Run Red, which is said to be the most brutal and gruesome slasher flick from the 80's. So him and his friends venture out into the woods to find it, but they are in for more than they bargained for. Although some people that aren't into these types of genre might be turned off by it, but for those that are slasher fans will most likely enjoy. Even if it could have been been better, it was still surprisingly entertaining and is worth checking out, especially for slasher fans.

6.3/10

Hmm, I definitely second what my pal and fellow reviewer TheatreX stated in his user comment! I am a devoted fan of horror genre as well and I also get a kick out of tracking down hidden gems that are extremely obscure or even considered "lost", but after seeing this film, I must make a mental note to never ever go and fanatically seek for lost backwoods slashers myself! That is what the basic plot of "The Hills Run Red" is all about. Tyler is a horror fan and amateur documentary maker obsessed with the idea of finding a horror film that was taken out of circulation shortly after its release, allegedly because it was too shocking and gruesome, as well as the director Wilson Wyler Concannon who mysteriously vanished as well. He convinces two friends and even the director's daughter, who nowadays is a heroin junkie and works as a stripper, to drive out to the middle of nowhere region where the movie was shot in the early 80's. Deep down in those backwoods, the foursome discovers that the film is real and never fully got completed. The maniacal killer from the trailer, referred to as Babyface, still prowls the area and butchers all trespassers in horribly painful ways. "The Hills Run Red", from director Dave Parker who previously made the hugely entertaining zombie flick "The Dead Hate the Living!" comes as a pleasant and refreshing little surprise in the overall worn out slasher genre. Especially the first half is compelling and innovative; at least if you're an obsessive horror fan yourself like I explained here above. All the little bits and footage and trivia details of the inexistent lost horror movie are truly fascinating. Supposedly "The Hills Run Red" revolved about a killer who cut off his own face as a child, because his stepfather said he was ugly, and replaced it with a doll mask. Director W.W. Concannon was a reputed freak who used real blood from a nearby slaughterhouse and hired a local retard to play the killer. The second half, meaning as soon as the main characters are confronted with the killer and have to run for their lives, feels a lot more like familiar slasher territory again with some implausible and grotesque plot twists as well as a few derivative clichés. Nevertheless, even then "The Hills Run Red" still transcends the majority of backwoods slashers because it literally oozes with perversion and sheer nastiness. The film is chock- full of macabre set pieces, harsh gore, lurid sleaze and vicious undertones like incest and mutilation. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't these trademarks exactly what the horror genre is all about? Add to all this a creepy horror lullaby that continuously gets repeated ("Hush, little baby, don't say a word…") and a downright depressing climax and you got yourself perhaps even a future classic. The basic premise is reminiscent to the John Carpenter's Masters of Horror episode "Cigarette Burns", but it's more properly elaborated and a lot more identifiable, and it was fun seeing B-movie veteran William Sadler star in gloriously demented role again. Recommended.