Red Hill

source: Red Hill

At the outset, I think reviewers should be careful about detailing the plot, unless they've indicated spoilers. By the time the film ends, it's nothing you've expected, even after the first hour of the film. In fact you may even want to skip this review until after you've seen it. This is a film about a young police office and his wife moving from the city to the outback, with the promise of a more relaxed setting to live and work. What follows is a clash of cultures and personalities, set amidst the premise of action and suspense, but ultimately adding up to much more. Lost in the on-target acting (look up who the chief of police was after watching the film, if you haven't placed him, you'll be surprised), harsh and beautiful scenery, and well-suited music, is a patient hand in the director's chair, that results in a payoff that which leave you breathless. Not to be missed.

I forced myself to finish watching this movie. It's the old story of wronged man's revenge. Fine and good, but the unforgivable thing is this, I counted more than 20 times that the escapee could have been shot but these goofballs cant shoot (one guy missed 6 shots point blank! Another with a shotgun) Also, the cops are the clumsiest, and loudest fallers ever! The "star" (Jason Stackhouse) is a wuss who could have ended it all at the beginning but had no spine. Plot lines are unraveled, characters grow (sort-of) blah-blah-blah... Just learn to be quiet and shoot straight if you are going to have a gun and your town will be a safer and your movie will be more enjoyable. I give it 4 out of 10 "missed shots".

For quite some time now, amongst the 1000's of movies I have watched, I noticed a certain ennui to my movie watching, as other people have said, this has been done before, most notably in American westerns. The wronged man comes back to reap his vengeance on the evil-doers. If this had been strictly formulaic and badly acted and filmed i would not have seen it all the way through to the ending. However, I was pleasantly entertained, I don't think it was too obvious a plot, it had me guessing for a while. The escaped convict looked suitably elemental and Ryan Kwanten as the young cop on his first bloody day in the outback played it well. Yes, there were some strange parts to the movie, although I just found the inclusion of the wild animal an amusing aside, and not to be taken too seriously. The score was good, the atmosphere was suitably bleak and a lot of it filmed at night to add to the tension. I think people expect too much these days, no this was not Unforgiven, but for a low budget movie out of Australia I thought this was a good remake of the classic revenge western. Certainly worth a viewing if you love westerns, or if you like revenge plots. For a Sunday afternoon, you could do a whole lot worse.

I tried to like this film but it requires too much suspension of disbelief. First and foremost the lead character "Shayne" survives falling off a cliff and ends up with innumerable injuries. We see him profusely bleeding along the waistline. He ends up walking long distances while injured yet still has the ability to run like a rabbit when gunfire erupts. There also seems to be a problem with most of the armed men in this movie as they never take a shot at the heavy even when they have the element of surprise with them. One poor bastard even squeezes off 6 shots at a distance of 15 feet and never hits the heavy. Add to the mix that although this film happens in a small rural Aussie town, aside from the few principals, nobody else is ever seen. Keep in mind that automatic gun fire, car wrecks and explosions are occurring right in the middle of Main Street but nobody even goes to a window to see that is happening. There is talk of "a big storm brewing" but aside from the allegory to the story it fails to materialize. I guess all the town folk are hold up waiting for the big storm to blow over. Cliché after cliché leads to an ending you can see coming from the beginning of the film. A real letdown.

I have watched thousands of films over the years and I am not saying this was the best film I have ever seen but it was so good I registered just to review it. Most of this thriller is set at night, which makes it very edgy and atmospheric. The acting is top notch, good characters and a strong storyline. It is the story of a young cop who transferred to a quiet Australian town to alleviate the stress on his pregnant wife who previously suffered a miscarriage. On his first day at the office an escaped convict comes to town, intent on bloody revenge. An excellent film all round.

RED HILL is a wonderful genre piece from local filmmaker Patrick Hughes. Part action thriller and part modern western, the film deals with themes of revenge, retribution and redemption. It has the lean, mean look of the traditional western and has a similar moral code. Filmed in Omeo, in Victoria's high country, the film is set in the small fictional town of Red Hill. Shane Cooper (played by True Blood's Ryan Kwanten) is a young constable newly arrived in town, looking for some peace and quiet for his pregnant wife. But on the day he arrives, news reaches the town that a violent prisoner Jimmy Cooper (played by Tommy Lewis, from The Chant Of Jimmy Blacksmith) has escaped and is headed towards Red Hill, seeking vengeance on those who put him away. The local police force (led by a suitably gruff Steve Bisley) arms themselves and prepares to defend the town. Cooper finds himself caught up in the bloodbath, and uncovers some dark secrets about the town's recent history. Red Hill is quite violent and blood soaked at times, but it has been proficiently directed by first time director Hughes, who has a fine eye for the clichés of the genre. Red Hill has been made with the collaboration of Wolf Creek director Greg McLean. It proves that Australia is capable of making great genre pieces. Red Hill is something of a guilty pleasure!

I don't expect everything to be realistic in a movie but if there are tons of scenes which don't make any sense at all, it gets extremely boring. 1) The bad guy and our "hero" are targeting each other with rifles and both don't shoot until the good guy falls off the cliff without breaking a single bone. 2) Main opponent is messing around with the jukebox and then taking his time to load his shotgun but the grandpa hiding behind him was probably too old to remember how to pull his rifle's trigger where he had lots of time on his hands. 3) The bad guy is about to get sniped but for some reason he manages to turn around in the right moment and actually kill the sniper with a clean shot using his normal gun from a long distance. I guess he could smell him hidden on the roof at night.. 4) Another scene where one of the locals who hits the bad guy with his car shoots like six times at him without hitting. He was standing maybe 2-3 meters away from him. Come on ... I could go on pointing out more silly scenes which range from the sheriff punching a wounded policeman instead of trying to help him to some black panther popping up out of nowhere and dragging off a dead guy. Speaking of the "badass" sheriff.. he is being introduced as some tough alpha male yelling at everyone and giving out orders but once he faces the criminal, he doesn't hesitate a second to run away like a sissy. Also I was surprised that Shane Cooper didn't seem to care much about his pregnant wife until the end of the movie. He is standing in front of her, half dead, looking like one of those zombies from Romero's movies covered with blood and telling her that it's just a scratch. Obviously his wife believes him.. Last but not least, 68 minutes into the movie, one of the main characters asks the sheriff "What the hell is going on here?". Something I have been asking myself from the moment on where this aborigine guy popped up in the news on TV and started to kill most of the armed locals.

I watched this film partly based on the glowing reviews here. This movie is miscategorized by IMDb as a western/thriller. It is a horror film, and very bad. Every single cliché of the horror genre is shamefully reproduced here.... Young naive guy from the city runs into troubles in the countryside. Villain is physically deformed. Assassinations take place at point blank range with orchestral music. Good guys cannot aim a weapon. Villain can shoot with perfect aim. The list goes on... About 45 min in, I realized it was not the western I had signed up for. This should not be compared to No Country just because there is a character who goes around killing people. The script is very weak and seems to be supported entirely by clichés of the horror genre. Those calling this a gem of Australian cinema ought to offer my Australian friends an apology.

I have to say when I downloaded this flick I totally wasn't expecting to be blown away like I was. It doesn't matter that the movie uses a familiar premise because they do it with unbelievable style. A young City sheriff and his wife are expecting a baby. The youngster decides to leave the City for a more relaxed cushy job in the Australian countryside. All is well and the small town appears to be a peaceful place until a local murderer with a nasty revenge streak blasts his way out of prison. Old scars are reopened with a vengeance in this Western Chiller. I won't go any further, but I just loved the badass Conway in this. Bearing a small resemblance to Charles Bronson he never says a word and still is one of the is the scariest people you will ever encounter in film. If you liked No country for old me, I would highly recommend this movie. Actually I recommend it anyway. Check it out. Its a doosie:)