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Hills Run Red, The (2009)
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Tyler, what's up? This is Astor. So I found ALexa Concannon for Your project. She works at the Crimson Kitty out on route 8. Call me and I'll give you the details. ANNOUNCER ON COMPUTER: When night falls, the terror begins. They thought it was just a Legend. They thought the woods were safe. Their only warning was a death rattle. What was that? ANNOUNCER: From the master of horror, Wilson Wyler Concannon. Witness the birth of a madman. His name is Babyface. His game is death. When night falls, The Hills Run Red. If You hear his rattle, it's already too late. Hey, sweetie. Do you know what time it is? It's late. What're you doing up? - Mm, where's Lalo? - Asleep in his lair. I'm naked under this. Are you gonna spend the rest of the night with that? Or with me? Just a little bit longer. I promise. Not again. I guess I'll just go back to bed. Alone. In the beginning, the Lord said, "Let there be Light". And there was light and it was good. And then, man said, "Let there be celluloid". Celluloid made film and film shows the world... what it doesn't wanna see. So I had to ask myself... Why this movie?... I mean' is it just one merciless murder after another? What did people see in it that was so disturbing? That's what I wanna find out. Soon as he's finished jerking off over the kill scenes. - Goddamn it. - I can hear through the walls. - Get your giant nose out of my shot. - It's just video blogging. - I was in the moment. - Whatever. - Back away. - Come on, we're gonna be late. Know what you're gonna get out of this? Uh, yeah' a thousand e-mails telling me... The Hills Run Red is a Spaghetti Western made in 1966. Actual title, River of Dollars. - See? I love that you know that. - That's right. But why this movie, Tyler? It's just another '80s splatter-fest. Think of the mystery surrounding it. I mean, no movie just vanishes without a trace. No prints. Just some stills and a trailer. That's pure, uncensored, unfiltered unfucked-with cinema... that only a handful of people got to see. Why? - Hi. - Guy made one movie. Nobody gave a shit. End of story. - Two popcorns' please. - 20 years ago nobody gave a shit. - Tyler, nobody gives a shit now. - Concannon was doing something. Something that scared people enough to bury it. Don't you wanna know what? Hey, look, who's to say it shouldn't stay buried? - Fuck off. - Heh, heh. Film speaks a language and therefore has a grammar... that is incomprehensible to the cinematic illiterate... unquote. - Heh. You got it bad, don't you? - Wilson Wyler Concannon said that. Oh, God' he's terminal folks. He's using all three names. No, no, the... Splices. A single cut in the wrong place can kill you... - Dude, what does that even mean? - It's genius. I think the worLd is crazy. I think it takes a certain amount of crazy to show the world who they are. Otherwise, you're just bull shitting them. This thing is only famous because it's so obscure. See, now you understand. It's time to prove or disprove the legend. I'm gonna find it, rediscover it and do a documentary on the whole history. Right, right, right. Easier said than done. The guy disappeared, what, Not completely. The little girl from the movie. So what? That's Concannon's daughter. Alexa. His only known child. - How'd you find her? - Astor tracked her down. She's only 20 minutes outside the city. - Ugh. Astor? - Yeah. And, what? She's just gonna hand you all this forbidden knowledge? - It might take a little convincing. - Right. Oh, yeah. Sure. Lalo, haven't you ever felt the planets line up? Ever? You know, it's that feeling that you know something's gonna happen. You, my friend, are out to prove you're more obsessed than anybody else. That's what I said. - And you want me to help you. - You have to. Between us, we've got the gear. I've got 500 bucks. - Plus a credit card for the car-rental. - Whoa. Now we're traveling? We have to go to all the original locations, genius. Did you ask Serina? - She'll do it. - You didn't ask Serina. Give me one good reason... why we should hook up with you on this Chinese fire drill. Because she loves me, and you love me. And deep down, I know you wanna see this movie as bad as I do. Oh, man. Does this involve getting laid at any point? Excuse me. Alexa Concannon? Do you remember the fun we had when you poisoned me? Lalo, just tell me where Tyler went. Serina, I... I don't know where he went, okay? You know better than anybody else how he gets. He's a man on a mission. Yeah, and he expects us to drop everything... head out to the middle of nowhere, and chase after his fucking movie. That's the plan. Me camera, you sound. Look... uh, if we don't do this... he's just gonna go by himself. Okay? MAN ON TV: In case you get any more ideas. Sorry. It's okay. Darling, the only ghoul in the house is you. Hello? Well, hello. I saw you looking for me. Poor little lost lamb. Whoa... uh, wait a minute. This isn't why I'm here. You're her, right? From The Hills Run Red? Shh. Uh... you don't have to do this. You have to. They're watching. All the time. At least act like you're enjoying it. I just wanna talk. That's not what I get paid to do. Look, you don't belong here. Why? Because you're Alexa Concannon. Meet me outside, little lamb. Well? Drive. You live here? Yeah, I'm in between mansions. So am I everything you dreamed of? Uh... I don't really know what I expected. Disapproval is not allowed. I wanna talk to you about this project that... Mm. Save it. You're not the first. Most of you assholes come here wanting an autograph or a snapshot... or some memorabilia or something. - Am I right? - No, no. Listen. I need to find your father's film. You're my only link to it. My father said you don't... make film, you live film. Sacrifice everything for it. If I did have the movie, I'd burn it. Scatter the ashes. Nothing left. It's nice having fans, I guess. It's not like that. I'm not just a fan. Oh, I see. You're serious. You're not like those other guys. - No. I'm not. - Sure. I know what you're really looking for. You'd better mount up before my blast wears off. Would you stop it with that? You know you wanna fuck me. Don't tell me you haven't thought about it since the beginning. It's like you said... I'm serious. How serious? How badly do you want whatever it is you want? Do you even know what it is you want? - Yeah? - I got her. Got who? You know who. She's taking us to see the film. Be ready in a few days. All right. Ahem. Copy. We're supposed to, quote... get ready... Where is he? Uh... chasing Concannon's daughter. I guess that lets us off the hook, then. What the hell do you think you're doing, you fucking psycho? Oh, you want serious? I'll give you serious. I'm gonna help you and you're gonna help me. It's time. I know you want me to tell you more about the movie... but it's a little fuzzy. I wasn't in much of it. Did you ever see the whole thing? Not all of it, no. Your father wouldn't show it to you? He said it wasn't for kids. All right, cool. - That's enough for now. - Okay. Whew. Let's roll. All that stuff you said, is that true? You owe me a fight. Serina' it was my only chance. I had to grab her. She was strung out and fucked up and far from home. - Did you fuck her far from home? - Trust me, it wasn't romantic. You disappear for days, and shack up with a hot blonde... and I'm supposed to be okay with it? Look, if I didn't give a damn about you, I wouldn't be here. - No one's forcing you. - I'm forcing me. Lalo and I talked about it. Yo, let's eat some road, grind some tape. Guess I missed that meeting. Shit, man. This place is like the Hollows or the pines. It's like 100 miles across, and there isn't any town called Scargill anywhere. - It's not on the map. - How long since you've been there? It's sorta deep in. Don't leave the city. - Thank you, voice of doom. - No, no, no. Seriously, the problem with all these goddamn scary movies... is they ignore a basic fact of civilization, right? The characters always head out to the middle of nowhere. Right? Suddenly their cars' their cell phones, their technology can't save them... and nobody ever brings a fucking gun. - Ha-ha-ha. - Yeah? Then suddenly these ass-loving rednecks come out of nowhere... - and fuck them all to death. - Ha-ha-ha. No, everything would've been okay if they just didn't leave the city. Ever. I think daddy burned her with cigarettes. The daddy whose brilliant reputation you wanna resurrect? - No, he's dead. - What? Tyler Did you ever see the whole thing? - She said he died like 10 years ago. - Then, where we going? To his final resting place. The house. Houses have attics. And garages and cellars. - Maybe a film vault. - There you go. What is it? Let's get you back to the car, all right? What happened? What did you see? He knows. Right? I mean' how could he not know? Are you kidding? He only sees what he needs to see. Yeah. Lalo, it was a one-time thing. It stays in Vegas. - That's the way it's gotta be. - Hey, that's cool. - That's what I thought it was. - Good. ANNOUNCER: So drop us a line anytime at 8PO-99309... and we'll get it on, like this one. Did your dad keep the film at the house? Daddy kept all his movie stuff at the house. Really? - Hey, does this place look familiar to you? Fuck me sideways. - Let's see if these people know anything. That fella, that director' he was crazy as sin. Used real blood too, from what I heard. Actually went to the slaughterhouse to get that. I mean, that's real blood you're looking at there. Hey, I remember you. Such a little sweet pea, riding around in your daddy's fancy car. What car? A Ford, I think. Daddy used to take the film places and show it. It was on big reels. Hey. Sonny, you saw that movie, didn't you? Come talk to these folks. - So you actually saw The Hills Run Red? Yup. I saw that movie at the drive-in. The Orbit. Uh... - You have to say more, Sonny. - Oh, right. Yeah, yeah. I... Well, that movie was way fucked up. Can I... Can I say... fucked up? - Yeah, go crazy. - Okay. Yeah, well, when I first seen that movie at the drive in, uh... you know, because them scary movies is really good for making out and shit. I had this chopped Charger, see? It was mostly gray primer and fender fill, but... Cut, cut, cut. Yeah, they shut that drive-in not long after that movie played... because some guy got murdered. - Okay. Hold on. Reset, all right? - Yeah. - Go ahead. - Let's start again. Okay. I had this chopped Charger. It was mostly gray primer and fender fill... but the headers were absolutely fucking fantastic. Projects like this, you have to trust your gut. I've got the girl. She knows where we're going. And part of the mystery is the fun of it. You gotta just, like, go. Who knows what you'll discover? - Do you remember who played Babyface in the movie? Tyler, give her a break. It was some guy from the hills. He had trouble remembering what to do when daddy told him. Like... uh, retarded? Slow. You'd say slow. DaddY said if You pretend well enough, it was as good as the real thing. So I knew it was pretend. MostLy. So you don't blame the movie for getting all...? Screwed up? Everybody's all screwed up, aren't they? I'm not some traumatized waif. I made it through. Wow. That's Nietzschean. - Yeah. - Heh, what? What does not destroy me, makes me stronger... - No? No takers? All right. - No, I wouldn't bet on that. ALEXA: I quite like it. Somewhere, in this overgrown wilderness... is the house where Wilson Wyler Concannon began filming... his now legendary independent film, The Hills Run Red. There's nothing but... Nothing for a hundred miles. Welcome to the middle of nowhere. - Ooh. - Fuck you. All right, let's mount up, people. - Ahem. You don't have to, I've got it. - I'm not a cripple. I can help. Heh. Okay. You got the tripod, then. - Think the car's gonna be okay? - Yeah, who's gonna see it? There's nobody here. Well, anything weird happens, think of the number three. Shit. Two in the chest, one in the head. Dude, put that away. I didn't think you were serious about that. Look where we are. All right, what else you got in there? Flares. For when the flashlights inevitably don't work. Like the cell phones, Mr. paranoid? Ha. Five bars, going strong. Shit, that's better than the city. So, Tyler, he's your guy? It's kind of complicated. Complicated because of Lalo? Complicated- Because it's complicated. Well, when Tyler found me, I was really messed up, he helped me. You're lucky. He's a really good guy. Yeah, I am. He is a good guy. Hey, guys. It's that way. - All right, let's go. - Down here. What'd you think they're talking about up there? - Us. Heh, heh. - God, I hope not. - Tyler. - What? - What is it? - Look. Is that... - is that a rib cage? - Oh, God. - Fuck. - Tyler, don't touch it. - Gross. - Why is there a hook in it? Lalo, look at the trees. So? It's the tree scene. LALO: All the damned trees look alike. You wanna shoot it? - Maybe we should stop. Let's go back. - No way. Hey, come on. We're in this deep already, right? It's just these woods. This place. We should keep going. So, what's the story on Babyface? The legend? - Was he deformed? - He was slow. His mother was raped by this feral mountain man, a trapper. So his father cut off his face and locked him in the cellar... so that he wasn't reminded of it. The boy tried to sew his own face on. But he couldn't do it. Oh, great. What, what? Another abused child... who magically becomes an invulnerable powerhouse murderer? - Come on. - No. It wasn't like that. He had this baby-doll toy' with this perfect face. So he used it as a mask. So maybe his father would love him. But it didn't work. But he wasn't invulnerable' or bulletproof or anything. I read somewhere that the killer took the bodies and preserved them. Mummified them, cured them. Cured? What' like bacon? Doesn't mean anything to me, sorry. Yeah, yeah, that's... uh, that's probably bullshit, you know? No, there's a shot of the smokehouse in the trailer. - Yeah, it could have been the outhouse. - Guess we'll find out when we get there. I'll definitely take a shit in it when we get there. Ignore these idiots. So, what are we, about halfway? It's better to move forward than back. Yeah, that's what airlines call... the point of no return... Ooh. That makes me all fuzzy inside. There was some, uh, backpackers not so Long ago. Yeah, the three of them. All they found was the backpacks. Everybody hears stories. But you don't know, whether it's true or not though. God. Don't do that. What's wrong? Nothing's wrong. It's not a surprise' really. Here. Ahem. Scoot back a litle bit. - Are we still interviewing? - Yes. In the middle of the woods, in the middle of the night. - Too weird for you? - Why not? In the middle of the woods it's romantic. So, what do you remember about this place, the campsite? Not a lot really. But on the way here, you said it was, what, halfway to where we're...? Let me interview you. Why the movie? This place? Why is it so important to you? Because people said it's the scariest thing they've ever seen. You know, the way he captured the... the reality of the horror. That's such a bullshit interview answer. Come on. Uh... Because, you know, if I find it... it's something I did' you know? Something that no one else could do, but me. So by finding it, you find yourself? That sounds like a bullshit interview answer. But am I wrong? Oh, wait. Stop. - I didn't say cut. - No, no. Tyler. Tyler. Good morning, campers. Wake up, Hollywood. Fucker. - I'll fuck her, all right. - Don't even think it. Please, we don't have anything. Oh... Look at what we got here. What you packing this for, dick-cheese? Do you intend to do harm to us? - What do you want with us, Sonny? - You got all this fine-ass gear. We've been thinking. Well, hell... we can make us our own little movie... That's right. Nobody gives a shit... about some dumb blood-and-guts flick made 20 years ago. Anybody who knows anything, knows the real money's in porn. This one first. Come on. - Alright, then. Let's get on with it. - Yeah. Billion-dollar industry when you calculate profits from the Internet... - overseas sales... - Hey. Hey. Come on. I bet you thought we were just a bunch of lowly hillbillies. We turned out to be smarter than you, didn't we? Hell, I want you to think about that while I fuck your friend. What the fuck, man? What the fuck? Oh, my God. Alexa, get the knife. You can't be. You're dead. Hush, little baby, don't say a word. Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird. If that mockingbird don't sing. Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring. No. No. Stop it. They're my friends. please, don't hurt them. - Just leave them alone, please. - Stop. Get away from her. Run! Jesus. I think she just saved our asses. - Tyler, lean over this way, man. - What? Okay. - Come on. - This is just like the movie. Tyler' will you shut the hell up about the fucking movie? LALO: Fuck this hurts. Fuck. Go back to the car. Get some help. - Tyler, wait a minute. - Serina, I got her into this. I'm not gonna leave her now. Now, go. - Shit. - Tyler. This is so fucked up. We can't just leave them, right? We're doing what Tyler says, and getting help. Look, he's just a guy, okay? I don't know. He's wearing fucking... uh, body armor or something. - There's 3 of us. We can take him. - Fuck that. We're in the woods' this guy just killed three people. - He's after us. We need help. - What is your location? We're near the camping grounds in Scargill. On some trail. There are over fifteen camping grounds in Scargill. You've got to be more specific. - Oh, please. - Blanks. - What? - Miss? - Blanks. Not real. - Miss, are you there? Those assholes are all the way dead. For real. Wake up. Alexa? Are there buildings or any Landmarks around... that might help me figure out where you're at? Landmarks? All I see is fucking trees. I... - I don't know... - Shh. Run. Run. Come on. Lalo. I'm stuck. - Fuck. - It's my hair. Help me. Okay, run, Serina, run! Hey, come on, fucker. I can't answer the phone right now. But leave me a message and I'll get back to you. What the fuck? Somebody! Help me! Help me! Oh, my God. Alexa, hold on. - Are you okay? - I think so. What the hell? Did he do this to you? - We have to get out of here. - Okay' hold on. I know why he didn't finish the movie. Yeah, he's still shooting it. BABYFACE: Got it all in one take. Come on. Let's go. Help! Help me, please! Please, mister. You gotta help me, please. Serina? Tyler. It's Babyface. He got Lalo. He's right behind me. - Where? - We have to get outta here. - We have to go. - Okay... Fuck this. Fetch. Hey, I remember you. - How long since you've been there? - It's sort of deep in. That's what airlines call... the point of no return... You better mount up. My father said you don't make films. You live them. Sacrifice everything. Sacrifice everything. They're watching. All the time. Am I'm everything you dreamed of? So you're the one that made a life's study of my film. Where are my friends? Well, you didn't really come all this way to ask me that, did you? Hmm? She said you were dead. That's acting, kid. She's good at it, ain't she? Girl's a work of art. - Are you him? - Huh? Babyface? Not at first. The original wasn't that good an actor. Watch this. CONCANNON ALL right, let's go. You ready? Give it to me. Give it to me. Give it to me. Son of a bitch. Cut! Cut! What the hell's the matter with you? That didn't look real at all. Give me this thing. Give me this thing. You be me, all right? And I'll be You. Here. ALL right. Let me show you how to do this. Right here. And action. Tyler: You really killed him. CONCANNON: Cut! print! See now, everybody is expendable for the good of the film. Everybody. I know. I know. You're thinking... I knew all along... I had to be some kinda around-the-bend psycho bitch, yadda yadda. The truth is you didn't know shit. And you didn't suspect shit, because... I am that good. We were helping you. You don't have to do this. You don't have to do it. Mm. I'm sorry, lover girl. But the show must go on. But who are we kidding? You don't have a chance in hell of getting through this. So we may as well have some fun first. Fuck you. Afraid not. That's his job. No' please! No' no' no! - Help me! No! Fucking help me! - Serina. - Help me! - Serina. Serina. Serina. I couldn't be in front of the camera and behind it the same time, could I? So I had to get a new performer. Alexa's kid. What? Grew up with The Hills Run Red. You know that part about... the cutting off the face and stitching on the mask? We made that up for the movie. He actually did it. That is hardcore. That is hardcore. No, please! please! No, please! No! Please, no. No, please. That boy was born to be Babyface. Oh, I know she was young, but it was worth it. She's only... No, that's not right. She's older than she looks. Well, she was 13 when she had him. She was almost 13. Oh, come on now, don't be that way. My wife was dead. I was grieving. Don't tell me you haven't wanted a taste of that yourself. Check this shit out. Ooh. Tyler: Jesus. You were filming it all. That's a hell of a performance, isn't it? Ha! And that girl can take direction. It's not real until we shoot it, right? Okay' we're rolling. Hush little baby Don't say a word. Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird. If that mockingbird don't sing. Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring. And if that diamond ring don't... I don't remember the words. You can keep singing, if it makes you feeI better. I came here to ask you... You came here to ask me what? - To find out... - You came here... Bullshit! You and I both know you didn't come here for my life story, did you? You came here to see my film. And I'm wondering just what you would do... to actually see it. True cinema is recursitve. It folds back on itself. See, you gotta suck the audience in. You gotta make them part of the drama, son. You gotta make them believe what they're seeing. You gotta dream for them. Because they can't. You gotta create their nightmares too. You see, otherwise, it's just a picture show, isn't it? It's not real. - Reality is what scares people. - Please' no. No' no. Now' the first thing... My God. - Daddy. - What the...? - What the hell you think you're doing? - We're making the movie. You and me. This looks like more you than me. You know' the only thing I hate worse than bad timing... is actors that think they can fucking direct. - You don't mean that. - And what is this? What is this? What is this? All whips and, uh, ball gags, huh? This is a torture show. Where's the emotion? - Please let me go. - Yeah, you see that? Yeah, you see that? - Please, let me go. - Yes, I know. That's reality! SERINA: Please' stop. Boy! Get out here! Now I will show you how it's done. Action, Babyface. Now get in there. Get in there. Tyler, fucking do something, man! - Don't break the 4th wall, Lalo. - Wait! Name some of the greatest directors in history' huh? Ford, Welles, Hitchcock. Wilson Wyler Concannon should be up there with them. There's a whole world of people that haven't even heard of you. I can change that. I... I can make you famous. I can make you the legend that you should be. You know what? I bet that slick film-school shit works on a lotta people. It ain't gonna work on me. Tyler. I don't need you, kid. I don't need anybody! I set this up. This is my cast. It's my turn to be the director. Yeah, that's it, that's it. You get angry. Let's go, a litle angrier. You've gotta give them more every time. - Yeah? - Bigger. - That's good. - More hardcore. - More shocking. - This is mere spectacle. - No. - Come on. You raise the bar. You lower the tone. This is an atrocity. - An atrocity? - That's right. - An atrocity? - That's right! Look at what you've done! This is a fucking atrocity. CONCANNON: Father to daughter... daughter to mother, mother to son. Haven't you learned anything I taught you about structure, huh? A real, auteur can grab the hot white light out of this gate... and turn it into something. Nobody cares about that subtextual shit! Get to the kill! Maybe you're right. I'm the only director in this family. My baby. Hey, I didn't say cut. Get back into character. Oh, that's beautiful. That's it, good and tight. Good and tight. Now to finish this. Attaboy. Attaboy. Here we go, let's finish it. Come on. Not me. Hey, this isn't how it ends. Stop! I'm your father. Hey, wait. Do it. Action! Kill him. Come on. Come on. Come on, kill him. See you in the last reel. ALEXA: Open your eyes. It's the world's worst transition. A cliche. You blackout, a time cut... Boring. I fell in love in this room. It's speciaI. Can you feel it? You should know better than to talk during the show. These were always my favorite. Now, this is a rough cut, so be gentle. Daddy was wrong. I did it all. Cameras, acting, makeup, the whole package. Now, you tell me. Was I commited or what? I'm glad you found me, Tyler. You helped me see my potential. To see that I was more than what my father thought I could be. You're different, Tyler. You're special. I mean, what other person... would go through all this pain just to see a movie? This is what you wanted. This is what you came here for. Are you ready? You're the first to see the new cut. Enjoy the show. For as long as you live. - You're living for the art, right? - It's kinda nice out here. I can't believe you said that. You talk to the camera. If you're not willing to take a risk, You're never gonna achieve greatness. Gotta go and stick your neck on the line... to get something great that people wanna watch. Serina included. She'll do anything. She loves me. It's nice to be around Tyler... because he knows exactly what he wants from life. Good morning. How are we today? Please. No, no, no. Don't fight. Save your strength. I have something for you. You think he'll like it? Hush, little baby, don't say a word. Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird. If that mockingbird don't sing. Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring. If that diamond ring goes brass... |
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