by: Obaid K
Posted on 02.19.10 in All Horror Films > Slasher > Thriller/Suspense
Release Date: 2009

If you’re a true horror fan you’ve probably felt the thrill of finding a notorious film that was guaranteed to shock you (no matter what you’d seen before it). For me, the movie was Cannibal Holocaust, which I downloaded off Kazaa in my college dorm room during my sophomore year. I’m sure a few people can relate to the nervous anticipation I felt when I watched that for the first time – it’s something all fans of the genre look for to some degree.

This search for obscure cinema is the story in last year’s low-budget horror film The Hills Run Red, which does a lot right but essentially misses the mark. Don’t get me wrong, this is an above-average slasher that I really enjoyed – it’s self-aware, the story’s intriguing and Babyface is a great concept for a serial killer (intelligent and shrewd). It even touches on concepts like artistic freedom and the consequences of an artist’s obsession with his subject and chosen medium. But it peaks a little too early and tries to stretch out the climax by relying on violence to further the plot towards the end.

The intro is pretty gory as you watch a boy mutilating himself and transforming into Babyface. It then segues to present day and shows a young man, Tyler, looking up a trailer for a rare movie called The Hills Run Red, which was pulled from theaters for its sadism and graphic depiction of murder. Only a handful of people got a chance to see it and the director, Wilson Wyler Concannon (played by William Sadler), disappeared along with any known prints of the film. His legend eventually sank into obscurity and the movie was forgotten.

Tyler, however, becomes obsessed with finding the lost movie and convinces his girlfriend, Serina, and friend, Lalo, to help him make a documentary about it. They track down Concannon’s daughter, Alexa, who tells them her father died in his house in the woods. She agrees to help them and they set out to find the house and (hopefully) the film itself. Unfortunately for them, the killer in the movie turns out to be real and they realize the movie might be more realistic than they expected.

This sounds like a generic storyline but it’s much better than I’ve described, even if the plot wears a little thin by the half-way mark. To say that I got a Texas Chainsaw Massacre vibe would be an understatement and I noticed a lot of clichés throughout as well. The plot twist is what makes it worth it though and just when you think this is just another “serial killer in the woods” slasher, it flips on you. And then it does it again.

Ultimately, though, it never reaches its potential. It shows promise right until the last twenty minutes, when you realize it has nothing else to say (though there’s a nice scene in a theater). There are numerous plot holes as well but I suppose that’s expected in a low-budget slasher. The gore isn’t over-the-top, the acting is ok and there are some nice twists (though I didn’t like the conclusion). This is meant to entertain and it does the job. No more, no less.

• ★★★★★

  Acting:

• ★★★★★

  Blood:

• ★★★★★

  Violence:

• ★★★★★

  Partying:

• ★★★★★

  Language:

• ★★★★★

  Humor:

• ★★★★★

  Predictable:

• ★★★★★

  Girls:

• ★★★★★

  Gore:

• ★★★★★

  Sexuality:

• ★★★★★

  Torture:

• ★★★★★

  Overall: