The Sideling Hill (2018) - United States
Directed by: Nathan Hine
ABOUT THE FILM:
The Sideling Hill is an independent horror film from the prolific underground horror team Hardgore Core Productions, whose films Last Days of Livermore and Keepsake I've talked about in the past. The Sideling Hill began production in 2015 when director Nathan Hine grew fascinated by the Sideling Hill Tunnel, an abandoned Pennsylvanian turnpike tunnel. Hine wanted to use the location after fellow filmmaker and friend Matty Calhoun had used the tunnel in a couple of his shot-on-video horror films. The movie took 3 years to make and a lot of problems arose during production, such as cast and crew leaving the project to focus on other things, the director not being happy with early edits made of the film, or even one of the actors becoming pregnant. However through a lot of trial and error, Hine and crew soldiered forth and delivered a top-notch gore film that wound up actually being one of my favorites I've seen in recent years, and perhaps an underground classic in the making.
Perhaps I'm showing my hand a bit early, so why not describe what the movie is about? Well the story follows Adam, a veteran who served in the Middle East, who was left traumatized over all of the horrific things he witnessed during wartime. As a result, he became a reclusive alcoholic, which led to his marriage falling to pieces. When his friend Harry and his daughter Allie beckon Adam to come with them to see the abandoned turnpike tunnel, Adam reluctantly agrees. On the way there they get a little lost and when they stop to ask some locals for directions, they warn them that the tunnel is extremely dangerous and has a long history of hauntings. They ignore the warnings and proceed to hike for miles and miles, eventually making it to the tunnel. But as they travel deeper into the tunnel, tensions rise between the trio and Adam keeps seeing things that remind him of wartime and start to bring out his inner demons...
REVIEW:
I remember first discovering Nathan's reviews on his Hardgore Core YouTube channel back in 2015, where he reviewed all kinds of underground gore and horror flicks. He covered tons of awesome stuff like obscure German splatter and the films of Darren Ward. And then one day he uploaded a teaser trailer for The Sideling Hill, which looked moderately interesting. After talking with Nathan over YouTube comments and through Facebook for some time, he shared with me a short film that he made while working on The Sideling Hill called The Last Days of Livermore, and I remember being surprised at the overall quality of the short. For something from a first-time director, it was very well-made with some good cinematography and crazy over-the-top splatter effects. I instantly became more excited about checking out Nathan's later works, and when The Sideling Hill was finally released, I was ecstatic to give it a watch.
I had high expectations set, and even then, this movie completely cleared those expectations. The movie is well-written with some great dialogue and some genuinely tense moments, such as when things begin to intensify between our cast of characters. However the movie is a little slow in some places, especially during tense moments, so as to keep viewers in suspense for as long as possible. I've seen both the director's cut and the shorter unrated version, with both clocking in at or over 2 hours. The director's cut is longer and a bit gorier, however I prefer the unrated cut because it's more polished and more tightly edited.
The acting is decent all things considered, with Hine stealing the show as Adam. He comes off as this genuinely troubled man who has been deeply psychologically scarred and as a result has a warped outlook on life. Some of the performances aren't that great, but these people aren't professional actors, they're just trying their very best to make their roles work and the end result is really admirable. The two other show stealers are the cinematography and the gore effects. The camera work and lighting is very well done for a low-budget film; we have some great shots and the lighting in some scenes definitely helps build this uneasy vibe. The gore scenes are few and far apart, but when the gore scenes kick in, holy shit do they deliver. There's a bunch of crazy over-the-top blood sprays with every cut and stab, and the make-up effects look pretty awesome. Aside from the movie having a bit of a slow pace at times, the only other issue I have with the movie is the sound. This is a common issue with Hardgore Core's films and indie cinema in general, that the sound is kind of schizo. Sometimes within the same scene, you'll have perfect sound and you can hear everyone or everything. Then when the camera angle changes, suddenly the sound is so muffled that you can barely hear it, and it's distracting at points. The movie does have a pretty awesome soundtrack though, with music from Australian death metal band MISERY and an original score by Will England. Great stuff!
But all things considered, The Sideling Hill is a solid fucking watch with interesting characters, a good story and some cool gore effects. And while the gore is there, the movie doesn't completely drive itself on the gore, but at the same time, what is there suits the plot. And that's what I admire about the movie. I love a good ol' mindless balls-to-the-wall gorefest every now and then, but I also love when a movie is more sparing with its use of gore. It makes it more effective! While I could go on and on about how awesome this movie was, I don't want to give away too much because I think any self-respecting gorehound or horror fan should give this one a watch.
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