MOVIE: RED HILL
With his debut feature Red Hill, Aussie director Patrick Hughes has concocted a wonderfully frivolous ‘Spaghetti-Western revenge thriller’ that’s laden with terror, tension and tongue-in-cheek humour. Seeking tranquillity, fresh-faced city cop Shane Cooper (Ryan Kwanten) and his pregnant wife relocate to Red Hill, a country town in Victoria’s high-country. When convicted killer Jimmy Conway (Tom E. Lewis) escapes from jail, hell-bent on violently dispatching Red Hill’s panic-stricken police force, Shane’s first day rapidly turns into a nightmare. Kwanten, best known for portraying buffoonish sexpot Jason Stackhouse on HBO’s True Blood, reigns in the silliness here, but sacrifices none of his signature charm as the film’s benevolent, unassuming hero. Meanwhile, Lewis (The Proposition) is a chillingly effective villain, dominating every scene with his steely gaze and quiet menace. The dialogue is a little ham-fisted, but Hughes has a knack for drawing atmosphere from Victoria’s haunting landscape, and has fun referencing both popular cowboy iconography and local myths. Hughes’ spirited genre flick fuses Mad Max with Desperado and No Country for Old Men. (JH)
****
