A young police officer must survive his first day's duty in a small country town.
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.
The finest Australian western since The Proposition.
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.
Owes a debt to the Coen's No Country for Old Men; it's as violent, but not nearly dark enough.
Writer-director Patrick Hughes has a likeable, handsome young hero in Kwanten and keeps the tension high, but like a train on a track it’s only too clear where the film will end up.
Fatally hindered by some poorly orchestrated action, terrible editing and weak characterisation.
Deftly balances its allegory of a nation’s colonial shame with rootin’ tootin’ entertainment.
It may be a pick 'n' mix of at least half a dozen other movies but Red Hill scores big on entertainment.
Encouraging Aussie thriller-Western.
Any chance of this being any more complex than an old-school black hats/white hats western is quickly sabotaged by first-time writer/director Patrick Hughes's inability to transcend genre convention, or even deliver some efficient enough action to make the myriad clichés seem irrelevant.
It manages to refer to countless earlier Westerns, while standing up as a taut, scary thriller that should have you perching on the edge of your seat or hiding underneath it.
After an effective opening the plot loses its focus, spending too much time on political subtexts (Aboriginal dispossession) and an overly symbolic panther, when it should be fleshing out the conspiracy at the heart of the story.
A taut, violent and well crafted shoot 'em up with a likeable hero.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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