The Hills Run Red

[The Apatow Crew]

We've just got our hands on the final DVD cover art and a bunch of hi-res stills from Dave Parker's The Hills Run Red (trailer), which stars an insanely naked Sophie Monk, Tad Hilgenbrinck, William Sadler, Alex Wyndham, Janet Montgomery, Mike Straub, Ewan Bailey and Danko Jordanov. Arriving on DVD September 29, the story centers on a film fanatic whose obsession with finding a complete print of an infamous slasher movie leads him and two friends into the backwoods where the film was shot. They realize too late that filming never ended -- and now they must survive a nightmarish onslaught or become part of the movie forever.

Click the image for the full gallery:

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/17053

The Trailer.
[YT]R3z4avzVKJU[/YT]

I like the premise of the movie, and hey look at this way. Its not a Remake, It's Not a Sequel ,It's Not Based on a Japan Horror movie.

 

[ross2287]

And here I thought this was going to be about massacring the cast of The Hills.

Still, the trailer got me relatively interested.

 

[Dark Victory]

I like the premise of the movie, and hey look at this way. Its not a Remake, It's Not a Sequel ,It's Not Based on a Japan Horror movie.

Just because it's somewhat original doesn't mean it's automatically good.

 

[The Apatow Crew]

6 'Hills Run Red' Clips, Vintage Trailer, Dave Parker Interview!

Dark Castle and Warner Premiere are prepping to hit you with a pretty kickass direct-to-DVD release on September 29th (October 26 in the UK), The Hills Run Red, which centers on a film fanatic whose obsession with finding a complete print of an infamous slasher movie leads him and two friends into the backwoods where the film was shot. Beyond the break you'll not only find a look at the "vintage trailer" used IN the film, but also give more clips! Also, make sure you dig on our lengthy exclusive interview with director Dave Parker, this is one NOT to miss!

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/17246

This is one of a couple direct to dvd movies I'm waiting to come out soon.

 

[The Apatow Crew]

The Hills Run Red: Director Dave Parker

The story centers on a film fanatic whose obsession with finding a complete print of an infamous slasher movie leads him and two friends into the backwoods where the film was shot. They realize too late that filming never ended -- and now they must survive a nightmarish onslaught or become part of the movie forever.

BLOODY DISGUSTING: Where did the idea of HILLS RUN RED come about?

DAVE PARKER: The idea of Hills Run Red came from a production company out of New York – Fever Dreams LLC. They had commissioned the original script from ideas that John Carchietta came up with and had Jon Dombrow write the initial script. That script had the basic ideas of a group of film students searching for the lost film and having it go bad. When they hired Robert Meyer Burnett and myself, they agreed to let us basically overhaul the script as long as we retained the elements of searching for the lost film and the main characters being involved in film.

To tell the truth I wasn’t too crazy at first about doing a movie about people making a movie, because I knew people would accuse me that I was basically mining the same material that was in my first movie The Dead Hate the Living.

The reality was that I hadn’t directed a movie in awhile, and if I wanted to be a director I had to take the opportunity that was given to me and make the best movie I could under those circumstances.

When we brought David J. Schow (The Crow) to rewrite the movie I knew that he would bring his unique voice to the characters and situations. There were certain aspects to the slasher film that we wanted to do – and in some ways try to capture the feel of those original 80’s slasher movies, and then turn those conventions on their head during the middle and certainly the 3rd act. I hope that people who watch it realize it is its own animal and not the same old thing. They do need to give it some time to play out before the payoffs begin, but when they do I think the audience is in for a wild ride.

BD: What films inspired HILLS?

DP: Inspiration comes in many forms. Obviously I love the genre and growing up I was devouring all the early 80’s slasher movies like Madman, The Burning, Friday the 13th basically everything with a body count. The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre was a big influence for sure. What attracted me to the original script was the fact that there was a masked killer. I’ve always loved masked killers with distinct looks and worked really hard with my designer Michael Broom to create Babyface, our killer. We spent a lot of time trying to come up with something nightmarish that I hope audiences will remember. We went for a pretty gritty feel, but executed it in a more modern way as far as the technical and editorial aspects go.

The trick of it was that we were making the movie under the umbrella of a major studio and there were certain aspects and scenes that some of the powers that be thought we pushed too far and in editing we had to pull back on. I personally don’t feel you can push this kind of movie too far. It’s clear that we are not dealing with reality here – this is a popcorn movie, a pulp horror movie and to me those are exactly the kinds of movies where you should push the limits because there is less financial risk. At the end of the day though you realize that not everyone is going to see eye to eye on everything and you take it from there and make it work the best it can. I do want to say that even with some of the compromises that we had I had great support from Dark Castle Entertainment, especially my producers Joel Silver, Erik Olsen, Steve Richards and Ethan Erwin. They do love the genre and have been really been there with me through the tougher times. Even though we did have to loose some things, I do think that we have a pretty nasty movie that will surprise fans.

BD: How bloody is it?

DP: This was never designed as just a blood and guts show, but obviously we knew what and whom we were making this movie for. It became a matter of doing our best to balance the bloody stuff with other kinds of horrific things. In the end I think the MPAA rating sums it up pretty well - Rated R for strong bloody horror violence and torture, grisly images, sexual content, nudity, language and some drug use.

BD: Give me an example of a cool gag

DP: Our most elaborate kill starts with a young woman suspended between two trees. She has large hooks going through each shoulder, through her feet, her arms are tied with barbed wire and the whole thing is rigged with ropes that when the killer cuts the rope…well let’s just say that I think horror fans will be pleased with the outcome.

BD: How was it working with Sophia Monk? Lots of awesome nudity.... was it hard getting her to go that far?

DP: I have to say that I was incredibly fortunate with all the cast. Sophie Monk really wanted to push herself and show that she could do more than just be insanely hot. She was fearless when it came to doing anything in the movie – including the nudity. Her part is really the anchor of the film and was very demanding on many levels and I think she’s going to surprise people who expect her to be just the typical pretty face. Tad Hilgenbrinck also really went out of his comfort zone. He was well aware of fans reaction to Lost Boys and wanted to show he was capable of more. In some ways he and Alex Wyndham have the tougher roles in a way because they are not flashy parts. They sort of ground the movie and for most of it are playing the kinds of people who watch these movies. Janet Montgomery came in fresh – it was her first movie – and like Sophie, she was fearless. She just went for it and it was a lot more demanding than the usual girlfriend role would call for, physically and emotionally. That was the exciting part to me about what Schow did with these characters, taking them into areas and having them do things that the audience wouldn’t expect in this kind of movie. And of course having William Sadler in the film just made it that much cooler. He’s such a great actor with such experience that he really upped everyone’s game. I feel really lucky to have had such open and collaborative actors be apart of this. There were no egos, everyone was just in it and making it the best it could be with what we had to work with.

BD: Whats next? more horror? Can u give any details?

DP: I’m working on several scripts and projects now that are horror in one-way or another. Nothing about filmmakers haha, but the reality is that a lot depends on how well Hills does when it comes out. The nature of this business is less about how a movie is as opposed to how well it does. That’s not saying that it doesn’t matter if a movie is good or not – that does matter. What’s exciting is that the projects I am working on are very different from each other. One’s with author John Skipp while another one is based on a comic book. It’s a tricky time right now for guys at my level, but I’m hopeful that very soon I will be behind the camera calling action and making blood flow.

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/interview/582

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

Wow, looks interesting.

 

[ABleedingCorpse]

Must admit, that film looks pretty damn badass.

 

[The Apatow Crew]

I think the premise is cool for a horror fanatic to go looking for a long lost talked about horror film, but in the process finds out its real and must fight to live or end up as part of a reel in the movie.

 

[Bubonic]

Sounds like the makings of an awesome slasher.

-Bodycount
-Masked killer
-Nudity

Although I swear that I've seen that exact mask design from an independent mask maker on the internet YEARS ago.

Still looks cool.

 

[The Apatow Crew]

Is The Hills Run Red Too Graphic?

When Dave Parker (exclusive interview) set out to direct his latest feature The Hills Run Red for Dark Castle Entertainment, he approached the movie with no restrictions on the movie's graphic content or gore quotient. After all, "unrated" releases of direct to DVD movies are the norm these days.

Dark Castle themselves had great success with the unrated release of their 2007 film Return To House On Haunted Hill. However, when the first cut was viewed for The Hills Run Red, Warner Premiere opted (for now) to only release an R-rated version, forcing Parker to excise approximately 10 minutes worth of material from the film before submitting it to the ratings board.

On the cusp of it's September 29 release date, The Hills Run Red sports an admonitory sticker on the front cover. Normally reserved for sales pitches such as "contains 3 hours of bonus features" or "features new footage not seen in theatrical cut", The Hills Run Red has a "Content Advisory" sticker stating "Contains Graphic Violence, Sexual Content and Nudity; Not Suitable For Minors."

This is the first time we've ever seen this for a recent horror release. So, we checked in with Parker for his thoughts on the addition warning label for his new movie:

"The simple answer as to why, at this time, there is no unrated release of The Hills Run Red is that there was, from my understanding, a policy change at Warner Brothers, and that they were no longer going to release unrated versions of their movies," he says. "While at times this can be frustrating and distressing for a filmmaker, these are the realities that one faces while doing a movie for a studio. That being said, I have had nothing but great support from everyone at Dark Castle and Warner Premiere and the intention was only to make the best movie possible."

"The material that was taken out was very strong and graphic," he continues, "but so far the reaction from those that have seen the film has been 'That was the R-rated cut?' so I hope that for people that don't know what was taken out, they won't notice. As far as the sticker, I can only guess that it was put on the DVD as further caution to parents to let them know clearly that this is not for kids - personally I can only take it as a compliment that we delivered a horror film extreme enough to warrant it, even in it's R-rated form. Kudos to Warner Premiere for taking such a step, because I know if I was browsing that week's new releases, that sticker would make me pick up the movie immediately!"

http://www.shocktilyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=11853

Seriously WB sucks! Especially when it comes to horror and how they treat them. I mean look at Trick R Trick and now this. "Oh were not releasing Unrated movies" Nor will be put any features on regular dvds and force you to buy Blu Ray!

You suck Wb you really do! I wish New Line didn't go under and give all their properties to WB.

 

[Figs]

So WB watered it down...for DVD?? Um...I can always understand the theatre versions being watered down but when it comes to the home market, that should be the buyers decision and right to view a more adult/mature version of a film, especially if that was the director's original vision.

This lacks any and all common sense. When it comes to horror films and most horror fans, the unrated/director's cuts will always be the preference over some watered down bastardized version.

Way to go WB...way to go.

 

[The Apatow Crew]

And it just goes to show it doesn't care about the directors original vision and wanted it watered down.

I know i mean who actually buys the regular version when its released?

They said new people took over at WB. Well those people need to be kicked right in the crotch for doing this and skimping out on the extras for the dvds.

Too bad Joel Silver doesn't move his company away from there. But again who pay for it. I'm sure some other studio's would though.

 

[Figs]

And it just goes to show it doesn't care about the directors original vision and wanted it watered down.

I know i mean who actually buys the regular version when its released?

They said new people took over at WB. Well those people need to be kicked right in the crotch for doing this and skimping out on the extras for the dvds.

Too bad Joel Silver doesn't move his company away from there. But again who pay for it. I'm sure some other studio's would though.

WB is going to become the new Fox if they keep this up. Kind of sucks because they let Nolan with the Batman films and Snyder with Watchmen have some good creative freedom...especially in Snyder's case. As Snyder had put it, under just about any other studio they would have made him alter the hell out of that film.

After how they worked with those two directors it's kind of sad and scary to think that these new people that took over might go the way of Fox.

 

[The Apatow Crew]

I'm sure it all has to do with Horror films and how they view them. And anything that's not Batman or a big name property they could give a care.

 

[The Apatow Crew]

Here is the sticker for all to see.

 

[hammerhedd11]

Looks like an interesting concept but it seems just like the same old jump scares and pointless gore and sex. I'll skip this unless it has great reviews.

 

[Jake Cassidy]

Gore & sex are never pointless. Especially in a slasher movie. t:

 

[ABleedingCorpse]

wow....i'm so disappointed now. I don't have much else to say. That sucks.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

And it just goes to show it doesn't care about the directors original vision and wanted it watered down.

So true, sadly.

 

[The Apatow Crew]

wow....i'm so disappointed now. I don't have much else to say. That sucks.

I mean I'll still see the movie anyway and maybe if it sells enough copy's WB will pull the stick out their butts and release the unrated cut.

 

[sandmjuggalos]

That mask reminds me of the mask Dollface wears in the game Twisted Metal: Black.

 

[The Apatow Crew]

Behind-the-Scenes With Baby Face from 'The Hills Run Red'

Beyond the break you'll find an exclusive behind-the-scenes clip from The Hills Run Red featuring director Dave Parker and star Janet Montgomery. The story centers on a film fanatic whose obsession with finding a complete print of an infamous slasher movie leads him and two friends into the backwoods where the film was shot. They realize too late that filming never ended -- and now they must survive a nightmarish onslaught or become part of the movie forever. You can pick this up on DVD next Tuesday from Warner Premiere

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/17458

 

[sandmjuggalos]

I have seen this and truly liked it. Baby Face is an awesome character and there are some pretty nice kills as well. My wife and I both had very weird nightmares that night.

 

[Figs]

Can't wait to check this out for free on On Demand. Sounds like it might be alright.

 

[The Apatow Crew]

I'll orolly end up renting it, cause i won't have enough money to buy it at first.