The Hills Run Red (2009) Reviews

• Solid slasher

  ODDBear2009-11-18

  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.

• Decent direct to video slasher, but falls short of the hype

  fromdusktillcon2009-10-02

  Perhaps I went into it expecting a bit too much having been swept up by the hype train, but aside from a strong third act and a show stealing performance by William Sadler, its hard for me to recommend The Hills Run Red as much more than a movie night rental with friends - even if it is a cut above your typical direct to video horror flick. The stories premise revolves around Tyler (Tad Hilgenbrink), a film aficionado on the hunt to find a completed print of a lost and legendary 80's slasher film, The Hills Run Red, rumored to be the most brutal and gory little horror gem ever created. Enlisting the help of his girlfriend and best friend, Tyler ventures out into the backwoods in search of the holy grail of gruesome, only to soon discover (as it usually goes with movies in this fine genre of ours) that things aren't quite all that they seem. To say much more would be to potentially give away what story there is and ruin a twist or two that The Hills Run Red works itself up to in the first hour of run time. Many have compared THRR to a cross between Scream and Wrong Turn, but I'm more inclined to argue it has more in common with John Carpenter's Masters of Horror Episode, Cigarette Burns, than the aforementioned Wed Craven franchise. Fans of the now defunct Showtime series will immediately recognize the not too subtle similarities in the story between Cigarette Burns and THRR, as well as the over the top gore sequences which stand out as big pluses in both films (even if shoddy CGI threatens to ruin a few scenes in the latter). Furthermore, despite being somewhat of a love letter to the horror genre, THRR never quite goes as far in its self awareness and fan boy masturbation as Scream, and quite honestly, this movie is much better off for it. Aside from that, there isn't anything done particularly well here, or at least not better than anything you haven't already seen in any of the source material the film pays homage to. Even the movie's protagonist, "Babyface," looks a bit too inspired by the killer in Dark Ride. On a positive note, the movie's hands down highlight is William Sadler (most will remember him as Death in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey), who absolutely steals every scene he is in, even if he isn't given enough to do as the lost film's, reclusive and maniacal director. Sadler alone makes the film worth watching, though I'd be hard pressed to recommend The Hills Run Red as more than a rental to be enjoyed with a few friends and a couple of beers. Like other recent direct to video slashers like Hatchet and Laid to Rest, this one comes with a lot of promise but does little to separate itself from the rest of the crop. Review by Mr. Chainsaw For more of the best genre film reviews, news, opinion articles, and forums, check out www.FromDuskTillCon.com.

• A Slasher That Cuts Through the Bull

  gavin69422009-10-04

  Tyler (Tad Hilgenbrink), a film student, hopes to track down a legendary film, the titular "Hills Run Red", which was lost and is rumored to be the most violent horror film ever. He finds Alexa (pop star Sophie Monk), the director's daughter, and they go on a hunt to the very heart of cinematic evil. Director Dave Parker (best known for Full Moon's "The Dead Hate the Living!") has done it, making the film of his career. I don't mean to discourage Parker from making more films, but I find it hard to believe he could match this level of intensity again. The action, the violence, the gore... as far as slashers go, this was the pinnacle. There were a few good ones in the past few years ("Hatchet" was alright, "Behind the Mask" was very good, "Hack" was amazing). This may be the best yet. For horror fans in my generation, the last great decade for horror was the 1980s. Anything since then has been largely rubbish. In "Hills Run Red", we have people who know this, that emulating the 80s is the best way to make a successful and enjoyable picture. The added story of tracking down an obscure film from the 80s is even better. You may think the slasher film is dead, especially if your name is Adam Rockoff. But the "Friday the 13th" remake tried to prove otherwise, and this film sealed the deal. The days of "torture porn" are coming to an end, though "Hills" does give a nod to that subgenre, too. The only thing missing is the hand-held subgenre, but I can personally do without that, as I can only recall one good film of that sort (Ruggero Deodato's "Cannibal Holocaust"). I have to point out this is William Sadler's darkest role ever, and he plays it well. Quite a difference from Death in "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey". But the real honor goes to Sophie Monk (who, I can personally attest, is a sweetheart). She plays a stripper, a heroin addict, the daughter of a demented auteur. With a past in pop music, this is a big departure and she rides it like a pro. While I don't suspect Sophie will be a horror regular, she'd be welcome if she wanted to come back. See this movie. Worth owning, but if nothing else, rent it. Great addition to any collection, this is what horror fans crave.

• Surprisingly entertaining "B" movie slasher flick

  KineticSeoul2010-04-23

  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

• Backwoods Horror the 10.000th

  dschmeding2009-09-26

  OK, the opening of "the hills run red" is pretty good but from there on I was constantly wondering what the hell the director was trying to do. Honestly with a title like this you can only expect a spoof movie and the whole stupid idea of a horror fan following the legend of a 20 year old horror movie that never aired because its so sick and the director got lost while filming... well, kind of reminded me of CigaretteBurns meets Chainsaw Massacre meets DarkRide (because the killer Babyface looked exactly like the killer in that movie). Funny thing is that there is no real reference to "the hills have eyes" and the spoof I was expecting is kind of there because there are many hints to horror clichés like the non-functioning mobile phones and a whole monologue about the stupidity of horror movie victims. Anyway this is a pretty ordinary backwoods horror movie with a evil masked killer, a house in the woods and the plot of the director and the movie... and his daughter. You can smell the plot twist from miles away and there is not even much gore except for some scenes that keep repeating. There's regularly strange scenes which are intended to be funny like when the killer just uses a gun instead of wielding a chainsaw or machete. Particularly one scene was so stupid but nevertheless shown so normal I was wondering if that was a joke or just incredibly ridiculous (considering this is a horror movie that sure can be considered possible). A girl flees from the killer and ends up in the shed where the corpses of previous murders are stored. She hides in a barrel full of blood and guts until the murder leaves and then cleans herself off and takes a new shirt from one of the corpses to walk back into action barely showing any blood. What the hell... if these scenes were supposed to be funny they made a hell of a job not to have the viewer laugh. I have seen worse movies for sure but if a movie jumps the wagon of a dead repetitive genre with overused clichés and fails like this to be any smart or new (like I said there obviously are dozens of stolen ideas from other movies) you can just watch the opening and the cool trailer of the movie in the movie and spare yourself 90 more minutes of a horror clip show and a lame ending that sums up another annoying thing about "the hills run red". Ridiculously overacted screaming girls... again not quite funny, maybe they were supposed to be. I don't care.