$5 · Red Hill (DVD)

Amazing! After moving to the Australian outback with his pregnant wife, a gun-shy constable (True Blood's Ryan Kwanten) finds his mettle tested when a vengeful Aborigine convict escapes from prison and begins bloodily settling his score with the local law. Writer-director-editor Patrick Hughes's lean and fairly mean debut slides intriguingly between neo-Western and slasher movie--and even throws in a dash of creature feature--while steadily upping the ante with a series of increasingly violent set pieces. (Wolf Creek maestro Greg McLean produced, which may help explain some of the more twisted touches.) A bit more plot in between the well-staged shootouts might have helped with the somewhat uneven flow, but this remains a propulsive, nicely ambitious genre picture, anchored by some amazing Aussie landscapes and a terrific performance from Mad Max vet Steve Bisley, as a Naugahyde-lunged sheriff who doesn't take kindly to outsiders Single disc DVD Click 'View sellers list' button for full movie list