KingoftheHill

King of the Hill (2007)

This latest effort from Dimension Extreme continues their recent streak of releasing decent European movies to the US market (this one is from Spain). After having a hot random encounter with a beautiful young woman our protagonist, Quim, realizes that she has robbed him of his wallet. He gets lost while driving after her, only to have a sniper start shooting at him. His car is disabled and he takes off on foot. Of course not long after he finds the girl, Bea, and while being distrustful of her still realizes he needs her help to get away. They eventually find the police, or more like they find Quim and Bea. But as is typical with these movies there is a confusion as to who the real villain is and they end up locked in the police vehicle while the sniper attacks the officers. After much running around the woods the identity of the sniper is revealed, and honestly makes the movie for me. Without giving anything away the twist takes an okay movie and makes it worth checking out.

King of the Hill doesn’t break any new ground and follows the formula of one of these survival movies. A couple is trying to avoid a random killer, who seems to be able to be everywhere. There is much hand wringing and tension, as they don’t know where the next bullet is going to come from. When the authorities do finally show up that relief is replaced by more terror as the protagonists realize they aren’t going to be any help. I did dig the built in distrust between Quim and Bea, given their short history with each other and that Bea has already stolen from him. Though again this is a common twist in these sorts of stories. But there are two things that set this movie apart from the run of the mill survival flick. The first is that I love the chemistry between the two leads and how the characters are defined by the movie. Leonardo Sbaraglia (Quim) and María Valverde are both absolutely believable in their roles and give great performances. This allows for a shocking, but very human action later on that I didn’t expect (thus the shocking bit). The other thing is the revealing of the sniper. At first I thought it happened way too early, but in reality they need to establish a few things to make the ending of the movie work. I can’t really say more without spoiling the movie, which I refuse to do. Just trust me when I say that this isn’t your run of the mill wilderness survival movie and give it a chance.

The movie is shot on digital and shot very well. The camera work takes every advantage of the beautiful settings and helps to create a sense of isolation that is critical in making the movie work. There is also a creative bit of camera work early on in the bathroom encounter that I noticed immediately and appreciated. Gore wise there isn’t much beyond a cringe worthy broken leg and a single bullet wound. This movie is more about building suspense and less about the body count.

I really liked King of the Hill and recommend it. My only caveat is that I’m not sure how well it will hold up on second viewing. Much of the movie’s impact comes from the big reveal and the tension as to where the next shot is coming from. After seeing it the first time I don’t know if it will work on me again. That said everyone should at least give it a shot as a rental if not a straight purchase. For more information check them out at http://www.dimensionextreme.com/

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer