Watch Red Hill For Free

Really Surprised!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

To fully appreciate Red Hill, I think you need to be an Australian. Not that that means you won't enjoy it if you're not. Nonetheless, there is definitely an unmistakable 'difference' from your typical western genre thriller movie that can only really be attributed to the Australian psyche.Having so said, I agree with several other reviewers that Red Hill is well worth the watch. Ryan Kwanten played the part of Shane Cooper, the new-cop-in-town well - although I wondered how long he had been a cop in the city because he was a bit timid to start with even though he had a past incident that framed him as maybe too compassionate to be a hard- nosed law officer. He was clearly a human being who cared and also happened to be a cop! Steve Bisley was every bit the "this is MY town" local sheriff (except that, in this modern version, he's a police inspector who just thinks he's the Wyatt Earp of Red Hill) and plays the part brilliantly.Then there's the protagonist Jimmy Conway excellently played by Tommy Lewis, a Northern Territory Aboriginal from way back. What other reviewers have totally failed to understand is that Tommy plays Jimmy exactly as he would have been in real life - all action and no talk! The make-up crew did an excellent job on him too.The plot is a bit "Blue Heelerish" (for you non-Aussies, that was a very popular TV series set in much the same environment as Red Hill) except that likable Sergeant Tom Croydon was very different from Steve Bisley's Bill.I would have liked to see a bit more development of the wild animal side-plot which I feel was left a bit up in the air (maybe there's a sequel planned to deal with that). All-in-all, a good movie that was pretty true to form (given the true circumstances - which aren't revealed until the very end).

It would appear that most Australian movies given a theatrical or home cinema release in the United Kingdom automatically whet the appetites of critics and audiences alike. Why so? All this particular movie has going for it is the scenery. But its already there. All you have to do is point and click. As did the cops in the movie, with their rifles and pistols that is. What a useless bunch they were, even with the escaped convict killer in their sites, with his back turned they still couldn't hit him. He was an Aboriginal superman. Red Hill is just a bog standard revenge drama fused with that awful contemporary genre "modern day western".After dark the town became Australias Copland with all the other residents hiding somewhere. I suppose they had been warned by the police chief about the monster storm coming that turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. Pity because there then could have been some tumbleweeds action to build upon that "modern day western" feel.The acting is lousy from all concerned and the story is so humdrum and routine. A thoroughly disengaging experience. There are countless other more worthy Australian movies out there.

Others have said this is a worthy western, but not great. I disagree. Tipping it's hat to any number of US westerns, it surpasses them on almost every level, introducing elements that have never been seen before in this type of movie, and approaching it in a different way.US westerns tell a story like they don't know we all guessed the whole story within the first few minutes, but here, the director has acknowledged we're not morons, and gently unravels the story in the most entertaining and engrossing way possible, building tension intelligently, with some additional breath-holding moments from a rather curious side plot which isn't overdone.Some truly tender moments are managed thoughtfully, with no sense of awkwardness, and are meaningful parts of the story rather than painfully tenuous attempts to show the softer side of the characters as one has come to expect from US westerns. Ryan Kwanten is excellent, but Tommy Lewis steals it with a truly chilling portrayal of the 'bad guy'. The use of aboriginal attifacts as the film closes is perhaps a little OTT, but could also be seen as poetic justice bearing in mind the cause of the trouble - and that's a hallmark of all good westerns after all. Steve Bisley always plays a believable part, but the interesting depth his character promises early on fizzles out a bit as the movie progresses and becomes rather two dimensional - but even that kinda fits.Beautifully filmed, there are some exceptional cinematic sequences that will stay with me a long while, and the sound effects are exciting without compromising realism.I loved it - an impressive first feature for writer/director Patrick Hughes, and I'll be eagerly awaiting his next.

The only western I've watched this year being the Coen's version of True Grit, Red Hill has a lot to live up to. Ryan Kwanten plays Shane Cooper, a young police officer who has just moved to the isolated town of Red Hill. His first day goes off course though as a local prison has a breakout and convicted criminal, Jimmy Conway (Played by Tommy Lewis) is on the loose and heading for Red Hill. This simple story has a lot going for it accompanied with an excellent shot choice, reminiscent of the Coen's 'No Country For Old Men', in fact, the whole film felt like a homage to western's in general and that's the main flaw of the film. It never has it's own voice; it feels like bits picked from various other and more rounded films so doesn't give it's own flavor.It can be commended however on it's playful way of mixing horror into the mix. There were countless scenes where the tension was dialed up to 11 making it an edge of the seat experience, not relying on quiet environments followed by loud bangs to get inside the audience's head. It was a very atmospheric piece and Tommy Lewis's representation of Jimmy Conway added to that having a terrifying yet, electrifying screen presence truly invoking a sense of dread into you whenever he was on screen.While far from being perfect Red Hill is a perfectly fine nuts and bolts westerns with enough plot twists and turns to keep you interested. You just can't help but get a strong sense of déjà vu within the viewing and reminds you of other and far better westerns which have truly earned their rights of classics. Red Hill isn't a classic, but it's a damn good time.