Hills Run Red

There was a time, probably not too long ago where if someone used the word TV movie to associate with a film I was declaring myself out of the game. Life was just too short to watch made for television movies during the 70’s, 80’s, and majority of the 90’s.  During the end of the 90’s and more so the new millennium channels like HBO and BBC changed the face of traditional TV movies, a bit more cutting edge and a little less concerned from protecting its audiences from sex, swearing and violence; in other words a lot more realistic. I’d not seen a made for TV horror movie for years, and the opening credits to Hills Run Red had already started before I realised that this was one.

The premise of Hills Run Red is actually very close to something I have felt in my time. Before the birth of the internet there were films that were talked about but that you believed either never existed, or that you would never get to see them, movies so notorious that the authorities believed that if you saw these movies you would either go crazy or turn into a serial killer. While not being kept from the public due to authorities, Hills Run Red the movie within the movie has been unavailable for many years. Tyler (Tad Hilgenbrink) a film student for years has been fantasising about the movie that in most peoples eyes simply does not exist; movie posters and a trailer seem to be all that remain of the movie, and every time he searches for cast and crew members he discovers that they are either missing or dead. This obsession causes much annoyance to his friend Gabe (Mike Straub) and girlfriend Serina (Janet Montgomery), but when Tyler tells them he has found a survivor they agree to go on a journey with him.  Finding the director’s daughter alive and almost well (a drug addict in a lap dance club) the quartet head off on a journey looking for the movie that is believed to be a myth.

Hills Run Red is not a stunning, or even particularly compelling movie, it starts well and slowly drifts off into generic horror movie territory the likes of which you can see in any Friday The 13th movie. It moves sharply from intelligent, well thought out story structure to effective anarchy as Hills Run Red killer Babyface turns out to be more than just a character on the screen.

The movie is not made better with the casting of Higenbrick who is probably best known as playing Stifler in a sequel to the original three American Pie movies and then went on to make Date Movie, and Disaster Movie. Without sounding unkind his face matches his Z list movie acting history and you simply cannot look at him and take him seriously in a role where you really should.

There are plot elements that are discarded as easily as a lady (or man) of the nights clothing such as an affair between two of the characters which is initially picked up and addressed as if to say “look at this! It’s important!” and then literally nothing at all comes of is, other characters discover the affair but are completely ok with almost throwaway in their attitude.

The hack and slash element is something straight out of the Saw and Hostel movies, perhaps a little bit too much inspired by them in fact. But in terms of TV movies it’s a pretty good attempt, and much better than the horror TV movies of the 90’s .

You probably sound a little too critical, and I possibly am being over the top. But its really disappointing when a movie opens with so much promise, and then evaporates into a typical slasher movie, its cliché filled and incredibly predictable towards the end, almost to the extent that you could believe they were not the same movie. Rape and incest are thrown in for good measure, I fact the threat of rape is used probably one time two many in the movie, an when the character played by reasonably well thought actor William Sadler raises his head, everything just moves from bad to worse.

If I had to rate the movie I’d give it an opening score of 5 out of 5 and an end score of 1 out of 5. Even its “shock” ending never once making me consider changing the score.

One of the opening movies of the 2009 Film Four Frightfest, I can now see why I overheard many people at the event saying they slept through it.