The Hills Run Red (2009) Review

"You youngin's will never know the hell of reel-to-reel editing"

There is nothing better than to stumble across a film that I never heard of and fly into it blindly. Anyone who reads ETMC regularly probably already realizes that, but I just cannot help the thrill of the anticipation in the event that I pick out a winner or a dud...and it's usually the latter. But I always hold out hope that I will make a great find instead of something Amateur Hour-worthy. In this case here with The Hills Run Red, my initial feeling was that this was going suck and indeed end up as another Amateur Hour entry. I even had the title for the post ready to go: "The Hills Run Brown...with shit!". Come on, you have to admit that's funny.

The film's title (The Hills Run Red) is the name of the legendary and proclaimed "most violent" horror film ever within our story. Unfortunately, the film was lost and never to be found again along with the cast. After finding the late director's daughter (Sophie Monk), an eager film student (Tad Hilgenbrink) and his friends set out on a quest to find the film and watch the legendary reels.

While the DVD cover art gives the illusion that the film is going to be another entry in the backwoods killer genre, Hills goes a different route. The film within the film is about a killer named Babyface who slaughters campers ala Jason Voorhees but at the same time is a bit of a ringer for Leatherface. Personally, I think Babyface is a pretty cool killer with a neat back-story. I'd tell you more about his story, but it is part of the twists and turns of the film and this review is spoiler-free. One thing that separates him from the pack is that he has no qualms taking out anyone with any available weapon - including a handgun.




This Babyface... ...Def not this Babyface

Somehow Babyface hops out of the Hills' film canisters and into reality to perform some real life slaughtering. Or was he really killing people all along? I'm not spoiling anything because I encourage you all to see it for yourselves. I figured everything out about halfway through, but that's just me. It didn't take away from the impact the rest of the film provided. I will mention that the ending was really f'd up and non-conventional, so...ETMC Warning: Remember to stay through the first minute or so of the end credits to see the "full" ending.

Non-conventional endings always score high points with me, but so do hot chicks. This is the Man-Cave and all. Sophie Monk provides plenty of TNA to get the guys' attentions. In all seriousness, I had no idea that she was a pop singer overseas and that she pretty much plays the "blonde" roles in other films. So let me say that she really gives a great performance and is welcome back to the horror genre anytime she would like, IMHO. And I truly say that based on her performance. Seriously.



This Monk... ...Not This Monk!

The blood-n-guts factor in this one is high, so gorehounds will be very pleased. Let's just say things get REAL messy from start to the very finish. One scene that sticks out in my mind involves trees and barbed wire that was f'n nasty. Must see cinema! My wife and I both kinda laughed at it, but in a good way - not to mock it.

Let me confess something. As soon as I saw who directed this film, I could not wait to tee off and hit this flick with every damning shot I could get in. You see, Dave Parker is the same director who brought us the very fanboy-ish and god awful The Dead Hate the Living. Cringe-worthy in every sense of the word, we are treated to such annoyances with lines like "What would Bruce Campbell do?", multiple close-ups of a Fulci Zombi bumper sticker and an ending straight out of The Beyond. The whole film is so in your face with the horror references, that you want to yell out, "Alright dude, we get it. You're a genre nut. Now please concentrate on making a good film for yourself". There has never been a film that made me want to go out and punch someone in the face with frustration except that film. But Hills really caught me off guard and I wound up enjoying it. It was the sort of "different" I needed to see and Parker really redeemed himself.

Some side notes:

- I was happy to see William Sadler's name in the credits because I think the guy's a great actor . Some of my favorite films of his that I can think of off-hand include The Shawshank Redemption, Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight and The Mist. Sadler has a small, but slick role as the director of Hills, Wilson Wyler Concannon, who died ten years before the events of our story.

-This the third time I have reviewed a film with Tad Hilgenbrink in the span of three months. Amusement, The Lost Boys 2: The Tribe and now this film. Tad is popping up everywhere in the genre. Definitely ups his game here from his effort in The Tribe.

- Oh yeah and an encore...