"The Hills Run Red" Review - Written by Anthony T

The Hills Run Red
Year: 2009
Director: Dave Parker
Studio: Warner Premiere
Stars: Sophie Monk, Tad Hilgenbrinck, William Sadler
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 81 Mins





“The Hills Run Red’ is the long awaited second horror film Dave Parker, who cowrote the screenplay for “House of the Dead” and directed the very entertaining “The Dead Hate the Living” for Full Moon Features.

The film is about three horror film fans, who are looking for a print of a never released film called “The Hills Run Red”. They find an actress, who was involved with the making of the film. The four travel to where the film was shot int the woods. They soon discover that it’s more that a film and they are their newest stars, as “Babyface” is not a character, but a person who’s intend on killing them. Now they must find a way out of wood before the come the film’s latest victims.

After watching film, I really hope Dave Parker gets a chance to direct another horror film, as he hasn’t lost the touch that made his last film, very fun to watch.

“The Hills Run Red’ is a very effective and disturbing slasher film that’s not for the little kiddies. Parker does a very good job making the action, very violent and shocking. He makes those aspects on the level with the Saw and Hostel franchises, as the violence is very hardcore. But what makes the violence work is the way that Parker moves the action along. Its moved at a quick pace to make everything feel intense, as there’s no dead spots to the point that you’re bored with the film. He also does a good job with the acting. I thought the cast here was pretty good. Parker makes the actor’s performances gel with the fast pace that this film has. There was good chemistry with the cast, as I never had problems with that aspect.

The screenplay was written by John Dombrow and based on the story by John Carchietta, who co-wrote and co-directed the horrifying short film “The Pick Up”, and co-produced the very wicked, “Wicked Lake”. They both did a very good with making the story, very brutal and shocking. They both do that, by making the tone very violent and very dark. By creating that tone, it makes it entertaining and not just a film that is there to just see how much violence that they could put in a screenplay, while at expense of the development. Dombrom does a good job in writing the suspense and shocking moments that make this film succeed. He does that by creating intense situations that the characters enduring while trying to find this lost film and outrun your typical masked killer. It’s make entertaining, not boring.

I truly hope Dave Parker has another chance to direct on this level, as he has shown with this and “The Dead Hate the Living” that he made his films frightening and fun to watch. “The Hills Run Red” is a very shocking film that’s frightening to its disturbing end.

Review Rating 4 Star.