Red Hill (2010)
Average Rating: 6.4/10
Reviews Counted: 63
Fresh: 49 | Rotten: 14
Though its attempts to rework genre conventions may fall flat with some, Red Hill is a beautifully shot, tightly paced thriller that marks a strong debut for director Patrick Hughes.
Average Rating: 6.2/10
Critic Reviews: 10
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 5
Though its attempts to rework genre conventions may fall flat with some, Red Hill is a beautifully shot, tightly paced thriller that marks a strong debut for director Patrick Hughes.
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Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 3,784
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Movie Info
Young police officer Shane Cooper relocates to the small country town of Red Hill with his pregnant wife Alice to start a family. But when news of a prison break sends the local law enforcement officers - led by the town's ruling presence, Old Bill - into a panic, Shane's first day on duty rapidly turns into a nightmare. Enter Jimmy Conway, a convicted murderer serving life behind bars, who has returned to the isolated outpost seeking revenge. Now caught in the middle of what will become a
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Cast
-
Ryan Kwanten
Shane Cooper -
Steve Bisley
Old Bill -
Tom E. Lewis
Jimmy Conway -
Claire van der Boom
Alice Cooper -
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All Critics (63) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (49) | Rotten (14) | DVD (2)
As short on originality and sustained tension as it is long on striking widescreen vistas and impressive technical smarts.
Top CriticRehashing the cliches from several beaten-to-death movie categories doesn't add up to much.
Patrick Hughes's bloody, brutal Australian thriller handles its B-movie premise with surprising precision, though the inclusion of several befuddling elements annoyingly puncture the suspense.
Under writer-producer-director-editor Patrick Hughes, the suspense level is high and the action constant.
The suspense that director Patrick Hughes manages to mount remains low-grade throughout and the plot never becomes entirely plausible.
Like the best westerns, Red Hill is a stripped-down morality tale; like the best horror movies, its true monsters remain cloaked until the final reel.
The movie is extremely well staged and the young hero's dramatic lineage is established by his resonant name - Shane Cooper.
Red Hill has an imagination and intelligence that stays long in the mind.
Starts off like a lean, mean Walter Hill movie but ends up going a bit Blazing Saddles.
Powerful central performances drive this impressive Oz thriller which features death by boomerang.
The film just about transcends its abundant clichés. It's Coen Brothers lite but made with some panache.
Rip-off or homage, it all adds up to an enjoyable stew of a film, even if you find yourself playing 'name that movie' for most of the running time.
First time writer-director Patrick Hughes shows great promise as a genre filmmaker.
What an effective calling card for debut writer-director Patrick Hughes this is - if not for the Australian tourist board.
Hughes's direction is sly without being smug, and Kwanten grounds the movie with a square decency that's never too pumped-up or cartoonish.
Kwanten makes for a likeable hero, although Steve Bisley steals the show as the hard-bitten police chief Old Bill.
Former commercials director Hughes probably relies a tad too much on his old job for the whiplash editing...but there's a lot going on here that's worth a look.
Red Hill starts brilliantly but tails off halfway through and fails to deliver on its initial promise, despite a strong performance from Ryan Kwanten.
Though Hughes overplays his directorial hand occasionally, Red Hill is still the finest Australian western since The Proposition.
A solid but wayward B-movie that falters just when it should be flying. Still, the premise intrigues, Kwanten's got presence to spare and Hughes is definitely one to watch.
[It's] saved by no-nonsense acting, and Kwanten stands firm as the moral backbone of the story; a young cop transferred from the city to a dustbowl town.
How much of a Western is Red Hill? The fact that at one point the bad guy shoots someone off a roof and he somersaults face-first into the street should answer that.
...a missed opportunity of disappointingly demonstrable proportions...
A thoroughly entertaining western revenge thriller.
Hughes shows chops in setting a mood and carrying out the grisly business of shotgun showdowns and torturous mano a mano sessions...[Blu-ray]
Yes, this is the land of Mad Max, so the stunts and explosions are of the highest order.
Audience Reviews for Red Hill
Story isn't too bad. The acting is choppy, but I liked Ryan Kwanten. He was a really good strong lead. He carried the movie and made it watchable. It's not something I would watch again."
Super Reviewer
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Latest News on Red Hill
November 5, 2010:
Ryan Kwanten Talks Red HillYou won't find it in as many theaters as "Due Date" or "Megamind," but the Australian thriller "Red...
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The film is pretty unoriginal lets be honest about it, the layout and events are nothing new and do smell strongly of certain saddle bound Eastwood adventures but again..lets be honest here, its a damn good Aussie version of certain saddle bound Eastwood adventures. Beating around no bushes this is a strong violent retribution/revenge thriller that almost kinda boarders on 'The Terminator' in some building and street sequences with its lightless settings, strong shadows and mute anti hero killer.
From the start you know something is amiss with the local police force and their gruff leader 'Old Bill', you can kinda tell what will happen really but it doesn't detract from the fun of the film one bit. The cast are unknown to me but pretty big in Oz. Bisley as 'Old Bill' is perfect and really comes across well as the hardened no nonsense chief whilst Lewis is great as the mute aboriginal gunman who at first is intimidating, almost robotic like in his swift killings, but you know all is not as it seems.
The lead Kwanten does sort of over act towards the finale as he goes from being a regular guy to a strong stern voiced gunman brewing over with cliches but you feel the tenseness of the finale and you find yourself glued to the screen. Nothing really new to the table here but the whole film looks good and is well acted with a trusted source in the nasty revenge genre to always get the juices flowing, maybe some more nastiness to really bring home the need for revenge was needed though.
Highly recommended and much better fair than the usual over hyped glossy Hollywood guff that was 'No Country for Old Men', this is gritty and more down to earth with realistic characters. The Oz factor of course helps this hugely. Still not so sure what the panther subplot was all about though, why was it needed? oh well.