Red Hill

Red Hill could best be described as an Australian take on the American Western. It centres on a young policeman who moves to a remote town to work with the local police department. The town is immediately laid under siege by an escaped Aboriginal convict who appears to have a grudge against the local police officers and their lackeys. Dark secrets from the past are gradually revealed.

This is a very well put together film. Cinematography, music and acting are all of a very high calibre. Ryan Kwanten is particularly good as the young policeman with insecurities and fears of his own; Kwanten makes for a very likable lead and injects some moments of humour into the suspenseful narrative. Tommy Lewis is also highly memorable as Jimmy Conway, the silent escaped convict with grimly burned face. The Australian landscape is captured nicely and the score compliments proceedings well.

It has to be said that the storyline is a little predictable. There isn't really anything overly new here. But this is not a significant problem as it really is a very well put together film. It's a solid thriller, and along with Wolf Creek proves that the Australian film industry is more than capable of delivering superior product in this genre. This one is well worth your time.

The plot was too cheesy and predictable.

The spaghetti western theme and lone wolf-bad guy story line could have been much more interesting.

There were so many people who could have easily taken the bad guy out, but didn't for various lame reasons.

There was one scene where the bad guy gets hit by a car, and doesn't even have a scratch on him. Then in the the same scene, some hapless victim unloads all of his bullets into the bad guy from about 8 feet - and MISSES!!!! C'mon now.

My wife and I gave the movie about 30 minutes and gave up.

It was too bad since we both enjoy Ryan Kwanten in True Blood.

A good film. for cinematography, story and performances. for preserve the rules and atmosphere of old fashion western. proposing a not new but well made story about past traces, revenge and a young officer in a small town front to its crime. one of good motifs for see "Red Hill" is the admirable job of Ryan Kwanten who gives a vulnerable, honest and brave character in precise details of each virtue. and that is the start point for enjoy a film proposing more than a story but being a pledge for small fundamental virtues defining us.

For quite some time now, amongst the 1000's of movies I have watched, I noticed a certain ennui to my movie watching, as other people have said, this has been done before, most notably in American westerns. The wronged man comes back to reap his vengeance on the evil-doers. If this had been strictly formulaic and badly acted and filmed i would not have seen it all the way through to the ending. However, I was pleasantly entertained, I don't think it was too obvious a plot, it had me guessing for a while. The escaped convict looked suitably elemental and Ryan Kwanten as the young cop on his first bloody day in the outback played it well. Yes, there were some strange parts to the movie, although I just found the inclusion of the wild animal an amusing aside, and not to be taken too seriously. The score was good, the atmosphere was suitably bleak and a lot of it filmed at night to add to the tension. I think people expect too much these days, no this was not Unforgiven, but for a low budget movie out of Australia I thought this was a good remake of the classic revenge western. Certainly worth a viewing if you love westerns, or if you like revenge plots. For a Sunday afternoon, you could do a whole lot worse.

Shane Cooper has just moved to the small town of Red Hill. On his first day as a constable, he must try to stop a very dangerous convict who just escaped and is coming back in town for unfinished business.

In a nutshell, this is Red Hill and those few lines alone are sufficient to understand this plot contains classic western elements. Director Patrick Hughes seems to understand the genre very much and seamlessly blends it to the somewhat modern context.

Taken as a very serious film, Red Hill might not score very high but thankfully, Hughes doesn't take it too seriously and has written a smart script that has great ingredients and builds up the tension gradually. His direction is likewise efficient, mixing contemplative scenes with straight up action/thriller. Overall, it's got some mood to it while never forgetting it's first and foremost a piece of entertainment.

At the heart of the film are the main characters. Hughes doesn't offer much exposition for and still succeeds in giving a lot of life to most of them. This is in part good writing and direction but also due to the very talented cast. Ryan Kwanten stars as young constable Shane Cooper and he conveys very well the "main hero" vibe by being human and vulnerable rather than just a squeaky clean superhero. Steve Bisley plays Bill, his boss who represents the law in town and pretty much seems to run it. Bisley is amazing to watch and steals many of the scenes he is in with great charisma and a domineering personality. When he talks, people listen. Finally, Tommy Lewis plays Jimmy Conway, the convict on the loose. Lewis succeeds in giving his character a brutal, menacing aura without uttering a single word, which I find very impressive.

One of the very impressive element of Red Hill is the stunning music score. Absolutely wonderful work by Dmitri Golovko, who has very few credits to his name. The script shifts through different tones and moods and Golovko is always right on target, never overdoing it. Expect to hear more from this guy in the future.

Despite all the praise, Red Hill is not perfect. The surrounding characters in the story (other officers of the law, various citizens and Cooper's wife) are too sketchy. The cinematography is cool but few scenes are really memorable and absolutely nothing will make your jaw drop. The action scenes range from "pretty cool" to "lacking". The western genre is cleverly revisited and transposed to our times but Hughes doesn't bring anything new at all. What you have a cool film that partly reminded me of classic Walter Hill movies. I wish Hughes had given just another pass to his script, fleshing out some characters and situations just a little more and given slightly more thought to some scenes, including the conclusion which I feel was slightly anti-climactic the way it was shot.

But if you're a fan of classic western or old school action thrillers that do not sacrifice a smart script just to string one action scene after another there is no doubt Red Hill should at least entertain you. Australian cinema keeps on expanding in all directions and I keep on loving it!

For his first full feature, Patrick Hughes has done very well and I am looking forward to more films written and/or directed by him.