About.com Rating
The Bottom Line
An attractive, well made but ultimately derivative film.
Pros
- Good cast
- Plentiful gore
- Good villain
Cons
- Nonsensical plot
- Nothing new
Description
- Starring Sophie Monk, Tad Hilgenbrinck, Janet Montgomery, Alex Wyndham, William Sadler
- Directed by Dave Parker
- Rated R
- DVD Release Date: September 29, 2009
Guide Review - 'The Hills Run Red' DVD Review
In 1982, director Wilson Concannon released the film The Hills Run Red.
Because of its violent content, it was pulled from theaters, and Concannon vanished along with all copies.
Two decades later, aspiring filmmaker Tyler is determined to find the movie. He tracks down Concannon's daughter, Alexa, who informs him that her father is dead. However, she agrees to show Tyler and his crew -- cameraman Lalo and sound gal Serina -- where her father used to live.
The old Concannon house, of course, is in the middle of nowhere. While exploring, the film crew discovers that the movie's villain, Baby Face, isn't just a fictional character, and the dead director isn't so dead at all, but rather has plans to include them all in his new, true-life scenes of torture and mayhem.
The Hills Run Red feels like a cut above typical direct-to-video horror, with a solid cast, good production value, a viable villain and a plot that at least tries to be unique. Unfortunately, it fails in its attempt at originality and eventually degrades into the same ol' stuff about city folk running afoul of backwoods maniacs.
Being a horror movie about a horror movie, The Hills Run Red has a self-aware streak exemplified by Lalo's insistence upon bringing a gun, flares and a working cell phone so they don't end up as typical horror movie fodder. However, it never takes advantage of the playful potential, just as it never takes advantage of the movie-within-a-movie format, choosing the safe cliches of slasher and torture porn -- complete with doll heads.
A lack of originality, however, doesn't make it a bad movie. It delivers bloody kills, nudity and an intimidating masked killer. The cast buys into the story, even though the plot is ridiculous and the attempts at character development are half-hearted.
The DVD
Special features include commentary and featurette.
Movie: C
DVD: C+