Red Hill

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Patrick Hughes directs. Tim Hudson behind the camera. Dmitriy Golovkov scores. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Australia. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Released 16 years ago.
• 2Directed by Patrick Hughes, shot by Tim Hudson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 3Original score by Dmitriy Golovkov. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 4Ryan Kwanten and Steve Bisley and Tom E. Lewis carry the top of the cast.
• 5Marketing tagline: "Revenge just rode into town".
• 6IMDB entry: tt1530983 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 7Classified under 19 themes, including "australia", "small town", "suicide", "fire".

The technical file

Cinematography

Tim Hudson

Original score

Dmitriy Golovkov

Production design

Enzo Iacono

Costume design

Nicola Dunn

Makeup / hair

Mia'Kate Russell

Sound

Pete Smith

Stunt coordinator

Harry Dakanalis

Runtime

97 min · 1h 37m

Status

Released

Box office

$324,424

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Red Hill (2010) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

79% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

62/100

IMDB rating

6.3/10 · 9,394 votes

MPAA

R

Also by

Patrick Hughes

• 
  War Machine

  2026 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Signs

  2008 · ★ 7.2
• 
  The Hitman's Bodyguard

  2017 · ★ 6.9
• 
  Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard

  2021 · ★ 6.6
• 
  The Man from Toronto

  2022 · ★ 6.4
• 
  The Expendables 3

  2014 · ★ 6.2

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Red Hill | trailer US (2010)

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Gimly2018-01-31
  ★ 8/10

  Dear Red Hill. I like you. Fondest wishes, Gimly... Ahem, just thought I'd make my opinion pretty straight forward from the get go. It's Australian, so points. It's got tonnes o' blood and night skies, so points. An Aboriginal with a half a face actually kills someone with a boomerang (there you go Luke, apparently it is possible!), so points. There's lots of fire, but no explosions, so points. The executive producer is Greg McLean (the kid behind Wolf Creek and Rogue) so points. Plus, it's entertaining! And I mean come on, Steve Bisley's in the damn thing! (the guy who played Goose in Mad Max). Ryan Kwanten (The Knights of Badassdo, True Blood) and Tom E. Lewis (The Proposition) make their presence known as the protagonist and antagonist respectively. It's a little crazy, some sort of... Horror/Crime/Thriller/Western hybrid with a couple of comedic moments. Not that it's a comedy, or cheesy, just a bit funny once or twice... Like! There's this one bit where... Nah, better not ruin it. It's good though! The score's great, one of the better I've heard lately. Though some of the more extreme Western elements bothered me (like quick-draws, horseback cops and white cowboy hats, etc.) I was more than willing to forgive these, after all, we as Australians are not yet in a position in the film industry where we can afford not to pander to the Yanks. First time Director Patrick Hughes certainly is somebody I'll be looking out for in the future, if this first effort is anything to go by. Red Hill is imaginative, clever, bold, no-nonsense and entirely watchable film that I'm more than happy to have in my collection. I wasn't blown away, it was no fresh new thing I'd never see coming, but Bisley's screen presence and the general non-stop awesomeness makes Red Hill it one of the better productions we Australians have unleashed onto the world. 76%

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• WI

  Wildheart Films

• HU

  Hughes House Film

• 

  Screen Australia

  AU

• WO

  Wolf Creek Pictures

• MC

  McMahon International Pictures

Key crew

• ProducerAl Clark
• CastingNick Hamon
• Costume DesignNicola Dunn
• ProducerPatrick Hughes
• Executive ProducerCraig McMahon
• Makeup Department HeadMia'Kate Russell
• Line ProducerRay Hennessy
• Production DesignEnzo Iacono
• Art DirectionSeth Aitken
• Associate ProducerRachel Higgins
• Executive ProducerGreg McLean
• Associate ProducerKate Menzies
• Sound Re-Recording MixerPete Smith
• Assistant Makeup ArtistJessica Moran
• Production ManagerVictoria Conners Bell
• First Assistant DirectorCameron Watt
• Art Department AssistantMichael Gibbs
• Boom OperatorSam O'Reilly
• Sound DesignerFrank Lipson
• Sound EditorErin McKimm
• Sound Effects EditorMichael Carden
• Sound MixerAndrew McGrath
• Sound RecordistBart Bee
• CompositorJessica Clare Smith

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• australia
• small town
• suicide
• fire
• rape
• pregnancy
• horse
• jukebox
• prison escape
• flashback
• revenge
• murder
• hanged man
• pregnant wife
• escaped prisoner
• scarred face
• aftercreditsstinger
• shot
• australian aboriginal

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2010-11-05R

Also known as

International titles

• Busca SangrentaBR