The Hills Run Red

Slasher movies are kind of a peculiar thing. To be really good, they have to walk a line between gore and pathos, character development and mindless psychopaths.

After an exceedingly disgusting opening in which a young boy cuts off his face with a pair of scissors, The Hills Run Red starts off a bit slow. A student is trying to track down a print of a legendary slasher film named The Hills Run Red which was supposedly filmed in the 70s and then destroyed. After tracking down the daughter of the dead director, the small group sets off into the backwoods to find the director's home and hopefully a copy of the film.

This intro takes a good 45 minutes to play out, and to offset the relatively dry content the director cuts in random flashes of gore from the movie. These are more startling than anything else, though, and the whole thing is pretty laid back.

The second half, though, is basically a completely different movie. Ultra-violent, yes, but beyond the gore is a non-stop series of twists that leave you completely disoriented. Throw in a healthy dose of self-reflection and commentary on the slasher movie genre, and the whole thing is good, and nearly overwhelming.

The pace change between the two sections is unfortunate, since it makes the movie, already only 1:20, feel even shorter. But while the flow change is relatively jarring, it doesn't hurt the overall production too much. Worth seeing for the second half, but only if you're really into slasher gore.