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Derek Flint reviews THE HILLS RUN RED from a Test Screening...
Hey folks, Harry here... This sounds interesting. Derek Flint is a long time contributor to AICN - so he's been a dependable voice coming out of Test screenings for years. Here ya go...
Tonight I went to a screening that surprised me. It’s a Direct To DVD horror flick coming out from Warner Brothers that also sports Joel Silver’s name on it. Produced by Robert Meyer Burnett, who helmed the much loved cult fave “Free Enterprise,” this new unabashed horror entry unspooling tonight was called “The Hills Run Red.”
The story bears a similarity to the best episode of “Masters of Horror” co-written by a guy well known to AICN readers, Drew McWeeny. Like John Carpenter’s “Cigarette Burns,” this is a tale hinging on a search for a legendary, lost horror film with a notorious reputation.
“The Hills Run Red,” which is also the name of the film within a film, is a rather extreme meditation on torture porn, but employing more traditional suspense techniques other than just wanton gore. Trust me, it’s there in abundance… but so is a clear intent to build up tension and surprise the viewer by riffing on conventions. For example, the contrivance of potential victims never being armed if deftly dealt with. Rather savagely, in fact.
While the performances of the three leads in jeopardy are standard issue teens in peril types, the film is illuminated by the exceptional work of Sophie Monk in a very demanding role. All her talents are on display here, both physical and dramatic. To call her acting fearless would be an understatement. When we first meet her, she’s grinding topless in a strip club and doesn’t don much more clothing throughout. Besides being great eye candy, her allure serves to misdirect you from the character’s ultimate fate.
While Monk may have surprised me, William Sadler did not. I expected him to be great and he was, in the pivotal role of the film director whose opus instigates this shocking quest. Sadler is totally credible as both a maniac and movie director, albeit they’re often one in the same, especially in his desire not to relinquish control as others succumb to the madness his work inspires. Let’s just say his contempt for actors doesn’t allow them more than one take.
Amusingly, I noticed none other than director Tom Holland in the screening and Sadler bears a striking physical resemblance to this veteran of “Fright Night” and “Child’s Play."
Speaking of direction, there is some accomplished work here from the guy calling the shots: Dave Parker. His IMDB oeuvre seems to mostly consist of=2 0editing and directing bonus features for DVDs. Parker takes this hackneyed material and elevates it with true style, an eye for detail and slick production values. This film looks as good or better than some theatrically released slasher flicks. Given a bigger budget and stronger screenplay, I’m betting his will be a name you’ll be hearing more from soon.
I’ve heard “The Hills Run Red” is playing the film festival circuit in advance of a DVD release in October. Whether the queue you wait for is at a theater or on Netflix, “The Hills Run Red” is well worth your time. Sophie and Sadler make for a very potent combination onscreen. Madman and victim will never be the same again.
Your man,
Derek Flint
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That's the only horror movie I'm looking forward to.
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But if her yammerings must besmirch the main page this weekend, maybe some benevolent hacker can fashion a brown paper bag matte for her head and mute that whiney voice. Leave the titties; lose all the rest.
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Harry will never get rid of her because she generates traffic, and that equals $$$$.
Long live the pimp ! -
Oh, I thought you were talking about Harry for a second.
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pornstar...
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. . . I pictured the Wolverines from Red Dawn duking it out w/ the Hills Have Eyes goons. William Sadler rocks!
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I would watch!
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and i would imagine they taste like strawberries
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BARDOT
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....would complain about a good looking girl with big tits and low cleavage having short videos put on the site. Here's a tip, benders - if you don't like her, don't watch her vids! Simple, no? Yes she's a poor commentator. Yes, she rarely mentions info we didn't already know. Big deal. She looks great and wobbles her chest a lot, that's all you need to worry about.
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and as long as they're available and I have the time, I'll click on her videos if I damn well please.
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Jun 04, 2009 1:05:02 PM CDT
"the hills run red" is the title of a 1967 western...
by jimmyjoe redsky
starring henry silva and thomas hunter - with a great morricone score
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I've seen it. Good in parts, cliched in others. There are a lot of flash cuts of violence in the first third of the picture to hint about the "film within a film" but it just serves to destroy any trust in building the film's tension naturally. This lame shock stuff is obviously a decision in the editing process to "gore up" the film early for fear of losing the most common denominator of viewers. Too bad. It was working very well without it. The last third goes all over the map with its horror not sure what kind of film it wants to be. Still, just when I thought the film was going to end on a predictable note, they offer up a coda that is possibly one of the most horrifying I've seen in a movie in quite a while. No gore, just a truly awful consequence revealed and filmed to perfection. There is a lot of talent in this film. I want to see more in the future by the filmmakers but it suffers from not having a strong hand on the material (and that might have been from the various studio "guides" working on it). Hopefully given the opportunity with creating more films, they can develop a more clear and assured voice.
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A movie about Lauren Conrad's menstrual cycle?
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Thanks for the article jack ass. You couldn't have given a small synopsis of wha the film was about? Too much ?
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Direct the movie, or what?
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Great, maybe they'll stop making them altogether.
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