THE HILLS RUN RED
Sub-Genre- Slasher
In Attendance- Me
Cast Members of Note- The awesomeness of William Sadler, The hotness of Sophie Monk, Tad Hilgenbrink and Janet Montgomery.
What's it About?- The movie begins with a kid cutting his face off with a pair of scissors, and all the while some creepy chick is singing Mockingbird. He does so, slowly, without screaming or showing any sort of pain, and then screams at his faceless self in the mirror. I will never listen to Mockingbird again. Not ever!
Flash forward... Tyler is obsessed with the legend of a movie called The Hills Run Red, and he will do anything to discover the truth behind the dark film. While his whore girlfriend is screwing his d-bag best friend, he sets off to rescue a stripper from her whore life, get her off of drugs, and takes her into the woods to "make a movie." Or is it to search for the director of the mysterious The Hills Run Red? Why not make it both? She's a stripper after all, like she's gonna say no?
It's not long before their film study trip into the woods turns into a fight for survival, because the star of the movie within the movie, Baby Face, shows up and starts ripping everyone to shreds. It's important to note here that I don't mean Babyface, the sexy, smooth R&B singer who gave us such soulful hits as "When will I see you again", but Baby Face, the grown up version of the sick kid that cut his own face off at the beginning of the movie. He's not so sexy or smooth, and I don't think he can sing.
I won't spoil what happens next here, because why ruin the twist? Suffice it to say though that Baby Face is a creepy bastard who unleashes a special kind of mayhem on everyone who dare seek him out... and the hills run red with blood! See how I made that last line jibe with the title? Yep, I'm clever like that.
The Good- This is my favorite slasher movie of the year. I don't know what it was, but everything about this movie worked for me; the atmosphere, the quick cut flashback scene editing, the gore, the acting... and especially the killer. Some of it looks a bit cheap, but for the most part it doesn't, and it does its job admirably.
Baby Face is an instantly classic movie maniac. An icon even. I think it's the mask that does it for me, or the way he just kills at will, but he just oozes terror and coolness. There's a scene towards the end where he actually gave me chills... I'll say no more on it other than it is one of my favorite moments in any horror movie I've seen this year. Great stuff, absolutely great.
William Sadler is awesome as always too. I've loved that guy ever since seeing him in Trespass and Demon Knight back in the day, as he is truly a great character guy. Also, I was surprised at how good Sophie Monk was in this; she's obviously hot, but she played a great part to boot. who knew she could act?
The Bad- I'd kinda like to see the movie of The Hills Run Red that played within the actual movie... in theory. Sure there are hundreds of reels to it, and it wasn't really "A movie" per se, but it looked as if the old footage could be as good as the movie I watched. Maybe you piece it together and give us a sequel, Dave Parker?
The Downright Horrendous- The very end was a bit cheesy. It also left me with a question or two, which leads me to believe that the DVD I watched is a cut version. Rumors of 10 "intense" minutes being cut from the film are floating around, and if true, I'd love to see them. Especially if they're gory.
The Gory- The filmmakers didn't shy away from the blood and gore in this one, and some of it is even pretty clever.
The Naked- This one has all kinds of boobs, butts and sex. Also, looking at Sophie Monk is extremely easy to do, especially when she's stripping on a pole or rolling around on a bed all naked like. Then again, her face alone is quite captivating, so I see the boobs a a sort of bonus.
Best Line- "You can keep singing, if it makes you feel better." Damn.
What did we learn?- All Horror Filmmakers are insane. Also, do not ever underestimate a mother's love.
Rating- B+ (8.5/10) The Hills Run Red was a kick ass little slasher, on par with this year's other kick ass slasher flick, Laid to Rest. I actually liked THRR a bit more, though both were great flicks. An awesome new killer has emerged on the horror scene, and I really hope we get to see more of his exploits in the future. Bloody, creepy, and fun overall, this movie is one you definitely need to see this October. Check it out.
Final Thoughts-Sophie Monk has some amazing ____?____ (Lips, eyes, or boobs?; you fill in the blank.)
