The Hills Run Red

The Hills Run Red (2009) After reading several reviews for The Hills Run Red offering high praise, I suppose my hype meter kicked in. I was told that it was gritty, grimy, and uber-violent. Sounds good right?

The story follows Tyler(Tad Hilgenbrink: Amusement) as he develops an obsession with an 80's slasher film called The Hills Run Red. Legend has it, that it was immediately pulled from theaters after it was shown, due to a strong reaction to the violence shown on screen. Since then, all people involved in production have mysteriously disappeared. After some internet browsing, Tyler manages to get a line on the director's daughter, whom is showing off her beautiful natural breasts at a strip club. The plan is, find the daughter, get her to help him find the movie.

The Hills Run Red is one of those films that I realize is a cut above most straight to DVD horror films, and I DID enjoy the film. I guess I just felt a little disappointed. I was expecting a little more exploitation, and a lot less CGI. The kills are inventive, but is almost killed by the CGI work. This is the type of film that you NEED practical effects for.

Acting is good across the board, most notable is Sophie Monk, who plays Alexa. Sophie is a stunning natural beauty. Nothing like seeing some meat on the bones instead of the current skeletal Hollywood trend. The pacing is excellent, the cinematography is top notch.

As I said, it's a great film, and I highly recommend it, I guess I was just expecting something different. I'm going to have to knock it down a point though for the shoddy CGI work. Get a clue up and coming film makers, there is no substitute for well done practical effects. CGI will NEVER replace the rubber suit, and fake blood.

3/5 -napalmfuzz

http://liberaldead.blogspot.com

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.

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

...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.

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.