The Hills Run Red – DVD Review

The Film:

Here’s a little nasty bitch of a horror film: The Hills Run Red. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, 2009 is the year of the Slasher, even though vampires were getting all of the genre buzz, and I think unjustly so. When you really look at it, the sub-genre that is on an up-swing is the slasher genre, and The Hills Run Red is just another reason why. Hitting all of the right genre convention notes, this film will make many happy slasher fans smile. Gore, boobs, and a new awesome killer are the three items any slasher needs to make us care enough to take a look, and you can put a check mark next to all three for Hills.

Now, as a horror fan, especially one who has a devoted love for the genre, yet has matured, those three items, boobs, gore, and a new killer I’ve recognized cannot make a slasher work completely. A story has to be somewhat interesting enough to make those elements work, and while slasher films might have the simplest stories, The Hills Run Red adds a neat twist to it all. While not original, it’s groovy enough to make most of us recommend it to our friends.

A couple of horror film-loving friends are attempting to seek out one of the great lost slashers movies ever, The Hills Run Red. The film was mered in controversy, only shown a few times at the drive-ins, and is particularly nasty. The director is a recluse, and all that is left from the film, are a trailer, a drugged out child star of the film, and some marketing posters. So the friends decide to seek this star of the film out, hoping she’ll lead them to the long lost film. I found this set-up to a neat hook for a horror film, almost very Grindhouse-ish, and director Dave Parker’s love for the genre is evident in everything. The way the characters speak and their knowledge on horror films, to fun made-up posters on their bedroom walls, the film is truly made by a horror fan.

The killer, Babyface, is a sick beast, and his origin is even sicker. The boobs are plentiful and the gore is high. For the most part, The Hills Run Red is enjoyable, although it does take a bit to get going. I won’t fault the film there, because of the cool idea, and the balls-out finale, but it’s not really anything we haven’t seen before. An original slasher, might be a dying breed. It’s hard to fault a film for playing the genre conventions perfectly, but slasher fans will find it going through the motions. That’s okay, because we slasher fans enjoy that predictability in some ways. The film has been riding a wave of praise, and for the most part it is justly deserved. The Hills Run Red grabs the slasher movie torch and runs with it proudly in hand. It does what it does well. To me, the best part was the fake Hills Run Red trailer.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: The transfer is the best looking, but that’s not the DVD’s fault. Most of it is the low budget the film had to work with, and you can’t blame it at all. I’m sure Dave Parker had some stylisitc choices for the film, and it looks like a 1980s film, but night time scenes have a blueness to it, blacks are grays, and there is plenty of grain. Not bad, not good. The audio is claimed to be DD 5.1, but feels like a stereo presentation, again mostly due to the film’s budget.

Commentary: With the fun that film delivers, this track is not that impressive. Dry, plenty of dead spots, and a lack of focus hurts what should be a fun listen for the fans of slashers. Parker, screenwriter David J. Schow and producer are here.

It’s Not Real Until You Shoot It: The Making of The Hills Run Red: Running nearly 30 minutes, this is the better extra here. A lot of fun interviews and set footage, making this worth the watch.

Trailers

Conclusion: A clever slasher, filled with the mainstays of gore, boobs, and a cool killer, feels like a long lost slasher. Horror movie fans and slasher fans are pretty different, so this is an easy recommendation for slasher fans first.

The Film: Rating:

The DVD: Rating: