Bullet Points: Red Hill
One of my favorite places to pick up random movies is at the local Big Lots. They normally have a small selection but you can always expect to find at least two Seagal movies and maybe a Van Damme or two for less than $5. Recently I strutted my way over to the movie section, barely even looking at the giant bags of cheap candy, and sifted through the small pile of movies sitting unorganized on the table. Not surprisingly, I did end up buying a Seagal and a JCVD flick, along with this little Australian film that I’m about to tell you about now. And I’m not gonna lie, I only picked it up because it was 75 cents and it said “Revenge just rode into town” on the cover! It was one of the better decisions I’ve made this year.
Synopsis: A young police officer must survive his first day of duty in a small rural town when an escaped convicted murderer rides back into town with vengeance on his mind.
- Real Life: I would be curious to see how many law enforcement officers have ever been killed on their first day because Hollywood and film in general, would want us to believe that many of them are somehow doing nothing but getting into shootouts from the moment they clock in. It’s the same here with Shane Cooper (Ryan Kwanten). He moves into the town of Red Hill with his pregnant wife, which makes him the easiest possible character to be empathetic towards. It also begs mentioning that he was wounded in the city after not being able to pull the trigger when a child pulled a gun on him. I wonder if that will come into play later?
- Tree-Huggers: Much like everyone in my hometown, Red Hill’s Sheriff “Old Bill” is fed up with these liberal pansies who are afraid to cut down a tree or step on an ant hill. We see him complaining about them keeping the jobs out of the town, saying “Heaven forbid, somebody might step on a fuckin’ flower”. He’s definitely old school, and veteran Aussie actor Steve Bisley does and excellent job with the role.
- The Shit is About to Hit the Fan: The moment that the town finds out that Jimmy Conway has escaped from prison they begin preparing for his return. Why would a man who was arrested in Red Hill want to return to the town? Well, without spoiling it for you I can say that he is seriously pissed at some of the townsfolk and it had nothing to do with stepping on flowers.
- Your Face Bro: You’ll immediately notice that Jimmy’s face isn’t looking the best. He already has to deal with the discrimination because of his aboriginal heritage and now he’s had to deal with all the other inmates snickering behind his back because he only has half a goatee. It’s not the best look, but he still looks better than Will Forte.
- Look Out Townsfolk: Jimmy basically goes on a rampage once he finally gets to Red Hill and it’s all that Shane Cooper can do to not get murdered right there along with a bunch of the other townsfolk. He must carry around a rabbit’s foot…or a koala foot (is that what Aussie’s do?) because he’s lucky to make it even 30 minutes into the movie.
- The Action: The fighting comes on pretty hot once the town learns that Jimmy is coming. They start posting snipers and planning on what exactly Jimmy might do. It doesn’t help them that Jimmy was the best tracker that the town had ever seen and he knows every inch of land surrounding the town. It doesn’t bode well for the local Sheriff and his crew when a madman is hell-bent on killing them all and he’ll even use a boomerang to do it!
The Verdict: Red Hill could almost be described as a slasher film if it had a few more scares. It plays, to me, more like a revenge film in the vein of Faster or Death Wish than a Halloween or a Friday the 13th flick. It makes it even more watchable to me because many people do not like the horror genre and this movie is certainly not gonna make you pee your pants out of fright. I thought Red Hill was absolutely amazing! Ryan Kwanten did a fantastic job and the supporting cast, especially Tommy Lewis as Jimmy Conway, was way too good for me to be able to buy this movie for 75 cents. I almost feel like I should send them a check…almost. Now go to your local Big Lots and look for this movie now! Or I’m sure you can click on our Amazon links to the side of this page and buy it there!
