Way back when I was in my teenage years I remember always searching out the most obscure and, more importantly at the time, the goriest movies I could find. It was always a competition with friends; the inner geek was unleashed so to speak. Over the following years I can honestly say that part of that geek still remains within me, although not quite to that degree. I still want to find and watch cool obscure and hard-to-find movies, but it is not the be all and end all. Hell, who am I kidding, of course it is!
Tyler’s plan is to talk his girlfriend Serina and best friend Lalo into helping him track down the illusive The Hills Run Red lost film and make a documentary about it along the way. His only real lead is Alexa, the daughter of the movie’s director, who starred in the movie as a child, but is now slumming it as a drugged up stripper. Well, you have to start somewhere don’t you?
This all eventually leads them off into the wilderness to find the movie’s original shooting locations. Locations that they will soon find out still run red, as it appears that there is a killer out there who would like nothing more than to finish off those pesky kids.
The Hills Run Red could quite easily have just been another predictable entry into the modern slasher flick. You know the kind – kids go off into the woods and get killed. If you look at it like that then yes, it could be. Fortunately, though, it takes these clichés and turns them on themselves. The cell phones do work, they do have a gun with them and so on. What sets it apart is how the film constantly twists and turns, so that as a viewer you will not see what is coming next. It is cleverly plotted throughout, a feat which isn’t always the case in movies like this.
Visually it has a nice gritty feel to it, as if it was dug from the archives itself, with the trailer for The Hills Run Red being especially cool. It’s probably not quite as violent as some might expect, but don’t let that fool you as there is plenty of claret on display here. Most of the gore is executed quite nicely, aside from one dodgy scene which you will know when you see it; it sticks out like a sore thumb.
On the negative side of things, there are a couple of gripes, minor as they are. Apparently detoxing from drugs only takes a couple of days, and then you are as fit as a fiddle. That just seemed a little too clean for my liking. Also, the DVD sleeve gives too much of the story away for me. It didn’t really spoil the movie, I just felt they could have been a little more sparing on some of the details.
Overall, though, The Hills Run Red is an excellent addition to the modern horror genre. It’s clever without trying to be too clever, it’s violent and uncomfortable viewing in places and the cast all put in solid performances. Once I got past the fact that Tad Gilgenbrinck, who plays Tyler, previously played Stiffler’s younger brother in one of the American Pie movies I was ok with it. He actually plays the part of Tyler exceptionally well, so that association with American Pie quickly passed.
Included on the DVD is a quite decent behind the scenes/making of feature, as well as a commentary from director Dave Parker, writer David J. Schow and Producer Robert Meyer Burnett.
This is a movie that I would definitely recommend you grab a copy of; it’s well worth your time. Go Run for the Hills!
The Hills Run Red will be released on DVD September 29th, 2009
