Director: Patrick Hughes
Screenplay: Patrick Hughes
Producers: Al Clark, Patrick Hughes
Starring: Ryan Kwanten, Steve Bisley, Tommy Lewis, Claire van der Boom
MPAA Rating: R
Running time: 95 min.

(3.5/5)

Neo-westerns are in vogue right now and frankly, that’s all for the better. I’ve never been much of a fan of the classic westerns, the ones my father used to watch were gruelling for a seven-year-old, but the sprinkling of westerns over the last few years have yielded mostly great titles: The Proposition, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and even titles like Appaloosa and the remake of 3:10 to Yuma have proven to be entertaining. Then there are films like Down in the Valley which aren’t really westerns but kind of feel like they belong in that category. The same is true for Patrick Hughes’ Red Hill. This isn’t really a western but it takes place in a small Australian town, features our lead riding around in a horse and lots of action which takes place in the sprawling landscape.

Shane Cooper is young and naïve police office who has moved to the small town of Red Hill with his pregnant wife to start a family. His first day on the job starts off rather uneventfully until news arrives, via a television report, that Jimmy Conway, a convicted murdered, has escaped from the maximum security prison nearby. The sheriff, Old Bill, throws the entire force into action handing out weapons and setting up a perimeter around the town just in case Jimmy comes wondering their way and Shane is set up in a road leading into town. As soon as he pulls up he has an encounter with Jimmy, an encounter that ends badly for the young officer, and Jimmy enters town and arrives at the police department which quickly turns into a bloodbath but when Shane explains that they need to call for backup to contain the situation and the sheriff refuses, it quickly becomes clear that there’s much more at play here than just some convicted escapee running amuck through town.

I really enjoyed Hughes’ film which is much more of a revenge thriller than a western though it incorporates enough of the western genre to qualify. Not only does Hughes’ film make excellent use of its setting but Jimmy Conway, the convicted killer, is played by the great Aboriginal actor Tommy Lewis which adds a nice dimension to this tale of revenge. It’s a surprisingly multilayered tale with Jimmy seeking revenge for the wrongdoing parted onto him and Shane seeking redemption for letting Jimmy into town to begin with – had he done as he was instructed by the sheriff, chances are the killing would have stopped with Jimmy’s death. Lots of moral questions at play here but Red Hill forges ahead with the action of the story and it’s not until afterwards that some of these ideas start coming into focus.

Ryan Kwanten, best known for his role as Jason Stackhouse in HBO’s “True Blood,” proves that he’s more than just a pretty face and carries a large chunk of the film on his own very well while Tommy Lewis is fantastic as the convicted killer, doing most of his acting from behind a boatload of make-up.

Moody and beautifully shot, I was pleasantly surprised by Red Hill which, admittedly, I originally only saw because of Kwanten’s involvement but which provides some interesting moral quandaries while delivering an honest to goodness, blood drenched revenge tale.

Red Hill is available on DVD and Blu-Ray on February 15th.

DVD Extras: A behind the scenes making of documentary which outlines the short shoot and includes a great look behind the scenes of the production while in passing, also providing loads of information on specifics of props, make-up and location scouting.