The Hills Run Red (2009)

As far as straight to DVD horror movies go, you could do much worse than The Hills Run Red, directed by Dave Parker.  The movie doesn’t exactly defy stereotype, especially when it’s centered on a masked killer, but it feels original enough.   Not to mention there’s something very intriguing about the idea of finding an old lost film so scary and disturbing it has the power to drive people mad.

The plot of this film follows college student Tyler, played by Tad Hilgenbrink, who is obsessed with finding an old movie like the one described above.  His quest is especially difficult because the director has been MIA for years, much like the cast.  The movie he is looking for is called The Hill Run Red, about a vicious killer named Babyface.  Close to the beginning of the movie we see that Tyler has an old movie trailer for The Hills Run Red, and the contents looks much like an old Friday the 13^th movie.  Just a guy gruesomely killing people in the woods.  However as the plot thickens, this movie sort of gains from that cliché, in that it gives you the idea that any old movie from your childhood could have been more realistic than you think.

I think the movie could have gone farther with that idea, instead of going down the deranged “Texas chainsaw” family route.  However, the movie is original and fast moving enough to be well worth the 80 minute running time.  The cast is adequate and raises no complaints.  In the gore department, the film is average with a couple scenes that stand out as gruesome.  There are also some creepy moments, which to me is amazing having long ago become immune to mask wearing killers in the woods.  I also very much liked the “before the credits” final scene of the movie.  Even the last scene during the credits is pretty good and scary, though again, not quite original.

I would recommend this horror film to pretty much anyone interested in the genre.  For people used to hard-core horror, it may be tame but its original touches should make it worth you’re while.  For people into tamer horror films, shame on you (just kidding), this might be a step up in gore and intensity but it’s far below the Saw and Hostel type films.  This is almost a perfect example of what a B horror movie should be.

The Hills Run Red:  B