Red Hill (2010) Movie Trailer
Starring: Ryan Kwanten, Steve Bisley and Tommy Lewis
Written and Directed By: Patrick Hughes
*Slight Spoilers*
This Aussie thriller with western undertones should easily gain love from fans of Mad Max and First Blood. Constable Shane Cooper and his wife have just relocated to a small town named Red Hill. His first day at work, he is immediately met with cold shoulders from townsfolk and the sheriff, alike. As a first assignment, he is sent up the road on horseback to look into a report of some missing livestock. When he arrives back to the outpost, he walks inside to what looks to be a preparation for war. Old Bill (the sheriff) has assembled a town mob to prepare for an escaped prisoner that he put away ten years before. His name is Jimmy Conway, and he is bringing hell with him.
Patrick Hughes’ feature film debut is a well-written and directed actioner that builds its tension bit by bit, goes ballistic, and does not let go. It has the feel of an old-school thriller, which is highly enhanced by brilliant camera work and one of the best film scores I have heard in recent memory. Dmitri Golovko provides the original music, and he succeeds fully with helping create a western mood in this movie. The score is rewarding to a Ennio Morricone fan, and it goes wherever it needs to when the film changes atmosphere.
While not overly gory, Red Hill does manage to muster up quite a bit of bloodletting through brutal gunfights, intense chase scenes, and many out-of-nowhere moments. There are some nice makeup prosthetic and FX that look pretty authentic. Some of the FX crew has worked on previous Australian genre films, such as Lake Mungo and The Loved Ones. Like aforementioned, this is not a gorefest, but effective enough when it needs to be.
Ryan Kwanten from True Blood fame dishes out a really impressive performance, here. His character of Shane is basically a city boy whose compassion makes him instantly stick out in town. The part is fleshed out really well; a scene in particular is when Shane is explaining his past to the sheriff. It makes the character truly sympathetic, and Kwanten owns the moment. Steve Bisley is equally good as Old Bill, a hard-boiled sheriff with a no tolerance for B.S. attitude and immediate discontent for his new constable. Lastly, Tommy Lewis as Jimmy Conway, the escaped convict is exceptionally intense and frightening. His character will seemingly stop at no bounds; Jimmy is as machine-like as a cyborg, and Lewis nails it.
