Friday, October 11, 2019

The Hills Run Red - Straight to DVD because Michael Bay is Hitler

The "Hills Run Red" is a movie that is committed to the message its villain believes in. No sub textual bull…just give them the flipping kill. With some patience from the audience, this new take on the killer in the woods genre delivers to the gore starved with enough intelligence that it will not waste the casual moviegoer's time.

Tyler (Tad Hilgenbrink from "The Lost Boys 2") is obsessed with the concept that there was a movie that was so shocking that all of its prints were pulled from theaters to never be seen again. This movie is the late director Concannon's (William Sadler from "Die Hard 2" and "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey") only film, "The Hills Run Red". Desperate to see this film, he has tracked down the director's daughter Alexa. In exchange for dragging her away from stripping and her heroin addiction, she has agreed to take Tyler, his best friend, and his girlfriend to where the film was shot.

Of course when anyone goes out to the woods in the name of horror, there are crazed rednecks and a legendary killer to torment and hunt them down leaving us wondering who or what will survive. Will it be a protagonist, a killer, or the documentary footage, or could something even more twisted be all that remains where the hills run red?

If more than just a made for video effort was put into "The Hills Run Red", a good January/February theatrical release could have come from producer John Carchietta's ("Wicked Lake") story. It has all the gore and nudity needed to draw the horror fans in, and a story that seems far more interesting than desecrating one of Wes Craven's classic or any 80's gimmick slasher. The film's slasher, Babyface, is definitely far more interesting than a Jason or a miner. The blame may fall squarely on the producer because aside from the frenzied climax, director Dave Parker's documentary style works well, and John Dombrow and horror authority David J. Schow's script is so twisted that the viewer will enjoy the absurdity of it.

Eva says "find a secure place to watch this one"Instead, the lack of funds prevents the film from looking any better than a Syfy original movie. Not to say that is a bad thing. "The Hills Run Red" maybe for Parker what "Dog Soldiers" was for Neil Marshall ("Doomsday", "The Descent"). A lot of credit has to be given to Parker and the very Eastern European crew for capturing a fun performance from Sadler, and for making us believe that this was shot in the rural US instead of Bulgaria.

"The Hills Run Red" is a great made for video horror film, but sadly nothing more. It is almost a tragedy to have wasted a possible indie smash by only giving it enough to exist instead of ripping out the hearts of those who are so quick to forget the original Craven classics for a big budget knock off. Hopefully this film will lead to better things for its director and writers, but if people do not go out and rent it, "The Hill Run Red" team's may impersonate its own art.

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