The Hills Run Red

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.

In the 1980's, a movie called THE HILLS RUN RED played once, before vanishing forever. Now, a horror movie geek named Tyler (Tad Hilgenbrinck) is on a quest to track down this legendary film. Unfortunately, he and his friends are about to uncover more than they could have ever imagined.

HILLS isn't just another slasher movie with yet another murdering icon. While "Babyface" is formidable, he is NOT the center of the story, nor is he the most terrifying aspect thereof. Nothing is as it appears to be, and anything can happen! This movie is full of foreboding mystery and twists to augment the grisly terror. It's as much a send-up / satire of the genre as it is an homage film. William Sadler is outstanding as Concannon, the reclusive Director of the titular movie.

Recommended for horror fans looking for something different...

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

In an age where most horror films are either sequels or remakes; one should rejoice when original slashers worth a damn pop up.

"The Hills Run Red" has a knockout hook that sets up quite a decent story. A mysterious "lost" slasher film, called "The Hills Run Red", has many horror fans obsessed with finding it. Such is the case with Tyler, a horror buff, who sets out with his friend and girlfriend to visit the film's locations in order to make a documentary. Along for the ride is the film's notorious director's daughter, Alexa, and once on location the group gets to enliven some true horror.

Good story, solid acting and some decent grue ensure "The Hills Run Red" has some definite highlights and the first half works very well. Present are the irritating "fast-cuts" that have invaded all horror films, it seems, but a decent atmosphere is built and the old "woods-scenario" in slashers never fails when well executed.

A fair amount of jokes and "rulebreakers" enter the film and work surprisingly well (the cell phone bit and the gun (guns are never present in slasher films)) and avoid going over the top. But despite the short running time the film loses steam and goes for one ending too many; both of which aren't too good (don't turn off after the first end credits appear).

"The Hills Run Red" is a solid slasher film for fans of the genre. Most can appreciate the fact that many things are well done here, the film remains faithful to the genre while poking fun at some obvious faults inherent with it and it's quite the gory feast as well. The only ones yawning are not slasher fans to begin with, I think.