|
|
 |
Hills Run Red (The)
R1 - America - Warner Home Video Review written by and copyright: Ethan C. Stevenson (9th October 2009). |
|
The Film
 I love movies. Good movies anyway (and some bad ones too). But, honestly, I am not the biggest fan of horror. As a genre it’s under funded, underdeveloped, poorly acted and cliché ridden. It exists as a quick cash-in for most production studios and nothing else. It’s not really too difficult to see why – prop up any Hoosier in a hockey mask, give him a lame backstory (maybe) and a knife, pit him against a group of attractive teenagers and, as fast as you can say “Platinum Dunes” or “remake,” the studios see success and profit. It’s likely the low cost, high profit ratio attributed to most horror pictures that entice studios to devote entire sub-entities, whose only job is to fund, create and produce horror films. In order to increase the dollar-to-dollar relationship, most of these horror flicks are pushed out direct to video; maximizing intake with little output. Warner Brothers is one of the most prolific studios with a horror-dedicated underling, in the form of Warner Premiere, and together with mega-producer Joel Silver (and his Dark Castle Entertainment), they bring awful film upon awful film (some decent ones do slip through, as, of course, there are exceptions to nearly any statement) to DVD players across the country. People lap up most of these films and, as result; some studios have become a factory of cheap, crappy slasher movies. Either that or the next major horror film in theaters is a remake of an 80's slasher flick, with Jason or Freddy or Leatherface, or whomever else, leading the charge. (I blame Michael Bay for these transgressions, but what else is new). Very rarely, especially these days, do we get good horror (again, there are, of course, exceptions: look no further than some films in the zombie subgenre, or the fact that Sam Raimi has returned, supposedly, in top form, to horror movies, for evidence that some decent horror does exist). You might think that because I led off with the above statements that “The Hills Run Red” is a crappy film, and I’m going to rip it to shreds. Well it isn’t and I’m not. “Hills” isn’t a good film by any means, far from it, but it’s somewhat original, at least more original than the far too many remakes of films that are barely 25 years old, and it has a spirit that very few horror pictures do either. The film is clichéd, this is true; it sticks to slasher-genre conventions, has mediocre acting and it looks cheap (which it was; this is a direct-to-DVD title through and through). But it’s got a genuine can do spirit and is, although far from perfect, at least not unwatchable. The plot: Tyler (Tad Hilgenbrink), a film student specializing in documentary filmmaking, and his group of friends set out to find the titular “The Hills Run Red”, an infamous horror picture from the 1980's so gruesome and evil that it was pulled from exhibition after only one showing and the negative and prints were “lost” (burned, cut up, who knows). All that remains is the films original trailer and a few scraps and frames scattered across the Internet. The film’s director disappear upon the backlash never to been seen again. It’s somewhat of an obsession for Tyler and his film loving friends, Gabe (Mike Straub) and Selina (Janet Montgomery), who want nothing more than to see the film that was too graphic, too disturbing, to ever get a wide release. They set off to find the film, and its director, Wilson Wyler Concannon (William Sadler, the only one in the film that actually gives a “good” performance. He’s not great but is a mile above everyone else here). Their first stop is to Concannon’s daughter, a stripper named Alexa (Sophie Monk), who, after some convincing, agrees to take the friends to the site where the film was shot. What they find there is certainly more than they set out for. I would say more but then it ruins the surprise; the little bit of plot that exists would be spoiled, and on that note: DON’T READ THE REAR SYNOYSIS! It gives away a major plot twist. A boneheaded decision by the artwork design people at Warner Brothers if I do say so. What makes me not hate this film? Honestly, very little, but as they say, sometimes a little goes a long way. What puts this film a notch (and just at notch; I think this is "C" material at best. And I’m giving it a "C-" because there a moments in it that are "F" grade stuff. Not a great score, honestly) is the old school, grindhouse feel to this picture. The homage’s, unintentional or no, to old slasher flicks, bits of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974), “Halloween” (1978), “Friday the 13th” (1980), and whatever else you can think of, make this a bit more worthwhile and simultaneously honor those productions and makes the picture seem like a contemporary. Whereas the films from Platinum Dunes are just rehashing the same tired material seen decades before, the guys behind “The Hills Run Red” are honoring the source material, even celebrating it; but staying far enough away to differentiate themselves. I also find the fact that, in pure “Scream” (1996) fashion, we have characters perfectly aware of the genre in which they are playing (they’ve seen horror movies, they know the games) a nice twist on an otherwise unextraordinary plot. What makes this movie unique, and not a retread of films before, is that, unlike the characters of “Scream” (and any of the other self-aware horror pictures since) that were knowledgeable of films that the audience watching has also likely seen, “The Hills Run Red” exists in a place where most of our genre staples haven’t been made. Instead, we get fictitious directors like Concannon, made up trailers and fake films, all of which the characters know a great deal about. That in itself is kind of interesting. Looking back over this review I’ve realized that, at times, I kind of seem rather impressed and satisfied with this picture. That sadly isn’t the case; this is just merely a better horror film than most as of late, but it’s still direct-to-video garbage. The acting is largely horrendous, the production values are questionable, and the plot is still full of cliché and absurd contrivance. The direction may be above average, but this film is only really successful on the level that it delivers in the “kills” department. It’s gory, disgusting and violent. It’s the type of film that you watch for the ridiculous body count, kind of like the films of yore, which are equally awful, but stand the test of time for whatever reason (why “Friday the 13th” has sustained itself, I know not). Serious fans of horror take note; you’ll probably like this movie. Somebody has to and if even I can see some promise (however limited), those tried and true horror buffs, like the characters of this film, will want to seek it out for the pure curiosity.
Video
Maybe it’s the fact that my expectations were far lower for this title’s visuals, considering its low budget, direct-to-video stature, but I don’t think this 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is half bad. Yeah, the film looks cheap, bleak and rough around the edges at numerous spots throughout, but more often it looks good. Strong black levels and consistent, stable contrast make the image spring to life, a thin layer of (artificial) grain permeates some scenes but it looks film-like and never noisy; compression is mostly adequate with only a few instances of blocky textures. Colors are bold for the first 25 or so minutes, after that, the picture gets a little shabby but reds stay strong. Detail is most impressive for a standard definition presentation; again this is partly because I expected soft, murky, low-tech video, which this is not. Occasionally “archival” footage is spliced in looking like VHS or a tattered 16mm dupe reel (complete with scratches, dense grain and fluctuating contrast) but overall this is an above average (if only just) DVD.
Audio
The English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix is passable but unimpressive. Typical of low budget direct to DVD fare (particularly, low budget horror) the overall sound design is rather lackluster. “The Hills Run Red” is front heavy, full of cheesy sound effects and is mostly flat, dull and mediocre. Dialogue comes across rather well, but most other areas of the DVD sound very much like the 80's gore fests that the film homage’s throughout, and that’s not exactly a good thing (a film made in 2009 should sound like a film made in 2009, not 1982). Still, this is direct-to-video where talking about and it could be far worse. A Portuguese dub encoded in Dolby Digital 5.1 is also available. Subtitles in are offered in English, French, Spanish, Japanese and Portuguese.
Extras
Extras are limited in number but get the job done. An audio commentary, a near half hour behind-the-scenes featurette and bonus trailers are all we get; but, luckily, the material is worthwhile, well put together and informative, and you really can’t ask for more than that, especially considering this is a direct-to-DVD. First up is an audio commentary with director Dave Parker, screenwriter David J. Schow and Producer Robert Meyer Burnett. They talk about how the film came to be, discuss certain sequences and genuinely talk about the who’s, what’s and where’s of “The Hills Runs Red.” This is actually a pretty good commentary with information coming steadily from at least one of the participants constantly. Yes, there are momentary gaps of silence but not too many. “It’s Not Real Until You Shoot It: the Making of The Hills Runs Red” is a surprisingly in-depth look behind-the-scenes. Teetering on the edge of classification, stuck somewhere between super long featurette and a true documentary, this supplement certainly makes up for the rather sparse extras package. The origins of the project, make up tests and models, and a breakdown of sequences are all part of the discussion here, which is accented by the insertion of parts of a production diary containing on-set footage. In a lot of ways this is more interesting than the feature it supplements, giving a candid look at low-budget filmmaking. Presented in 16x9-enhanced widescreen. Runs 28 minute 35 seconds. Pre-menu bonus trailers are for: - “Freddy vs. Jason” on Blu-ray. Runs 1 minute 9 seconds. - “The Cell 2” on DVD/Blu-ray. Runs 1 minute. - “Trick R Treat” on DVD/Blu-ray. Runs 2 minutes 35 seconds. (Side note: this looks excellent. Here's a horror picture that I am actually waiting for.) - “Batman: Arkham Asylum" video game trailer. Runs 1 minute 53 seconds.
Overall
|
|||||
|