PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Extreme gore guru Harry Collins, also known as Nathan Hine, is the proprietor of the private Facebook group, Hardgore Core, a Facebook group I have had the pleasure of inhabiting since its conception. Harry has an insatiable passion for all things gore and has never faltered in his nonstop pursuit of every film on the face of the planet which contains just a bit or a whole ton of the great splattery sauce.
Harry has also directed several underground films, bringing his own vision of gory horror to life. He has one short under his belt titled The Last Days Of Livermore, which impressed the hell out of me, and now his full feature length debut The Sideling Hill. Harry and his crew have worked hard on this one, and it has taken him some time to get things all lined up to present a finished version of the film. It was worth the wait. I believe Harry has made an underground film worthy of your time and money.
I noticed with The Last Days Of Livermore, there was a wonderful sense of atmosphere with some great camera work, music and, of course, the set, which in this case, was a cemetery in the woods. With The Sideling Hill, the majority of the story takes place in an abandoned road tunnel which was closed due to the number of accidents that have occurred since its inception. Once again, the location is key in The Sideling Hill, and it brings an unmistakable vibe of doom and the macabre to the screen in full, in-your-face force. This authentic tunnel location itself was far more effective than a fancy set any money could possibly buy. and it works.
I love the intro to the movie, which Harry films in his own house (I only know this because I recognize it from the Hardgore Core video reviews Harry posts on YouTube). I also love the nod to all things horror from the posters on the walls to the magazines on the table, including Goregasmic Magazine, which was a publication that yours truly wrote reviews/interviews for.
Sideling Hill tells the story of Collins, who plays an ex-soldier suffering from severe PTSD. Collins and friends go on a road trip to search for the infamous underground roadway tunnel, just for shits and giggles. Once there, things start going awry as Collins’ character starts seeing bizarre and deathly images, things that may or may not be there. Everything culminates in a nasty turn of events with plenty of gore and disturbing imagery throughout the film.
The effects were as splatter-filled and over the top as possible. The film was shot well, in crisp high definition, which makes everything pop nicely. For its caliber of low budget production, the actors’ performances were surprisingly decent for a film only known in die hard underground horror circles. Those scenes shot in the tunnel with the red road flares are definitely the highlight of the film. They deliver this crazy atmosphere like no other.
Even though you’d expect a nonstop gore film from Collins, the story is actually quite a nice little mindfuck, and not just typical, no-brainer splatter fare. Don’t get me wrong, I love gore but its nice to mix in a bit of substance as well to bind it all together and Collins does that here with The Sideling Hill. Will England who did great work with the score on The Last Days Of Livermore is back with some great and moody foreboding material here as well. Collins himself gives a great performance in the lead role as a convincing soldier suffering through some menacing PTSD, he shows some extreme emotion in the role and I commend him on giving his all.
Overall, Harry Collins is a big fan and supporter of gory movies in general, so its a no brainer to support the guy who goes to bat for so many low budget movies. It also makes it easier that The Sideling Hill is a widely enjoyable and well done offering. For me, it’s a rough underground gem which needs to be checked out and supported, and is one of the best low budget offerings of 2019 so far. If I write up a Best Of list for 2019, The Sideling Hill will be on it.
