King of the Hill (Rey de la Montana)

2007

Suspense

Spain

Spanish, clear English subtitles.

Producer Juanma Arance, Director Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego

Madman Entertainment

Reviewer: Bob Estreich

While driving through a lonely mountainous part of Spain, a brief sexual encounter with the attractive Bea costs Quim his wallet. Further along the road his car is hit by a stray gunshot. At least, he assumes it is a stray shot until a stranger comes over the hill where he has stopped and shoots him in the leg. He takes off again, but stops to make a phone call for help. Further along the road a man steps out in front of him and again tries to shoot him, but he rams the man with his car and apparently kills him. The damage from the impact cripples his car and he is now on foot. Walking along the road, he again runs into Bea. Her car has been stopped by a flat tyre, but when Quim checks he finds a bullet hole in the tyre. She is being hunted too.

He repairs the tyre and they continue, but further along the road is another car riddled with bullet holes and trashed. Are the local people using the road as their private hunting area?

When they finally contact the police, their reception is hostile and disbelieving. They are put in the back of the police vehicle while their story is checked. The body is still on the road. As the police officers are examining it, they are both shot. Further shots disable the police vehicle. Now Bea and Quim are on foot in the mountains. One of the police officers tracks them down and joins them. He is injured, but still has his gun. They cannot continue along the road since that is obviously guarded by the hunters, so they must take to the forest. The hunters catch up with them again at a flooded river and the policeman is shot again and again until a final killing shot finishes him.

The next morning the hunt continues with dogs. Bea is shot in the shoulder and trapped in a pothole in the ground. Quim continues on to search for help. Then we get our first look at the hunters.

The film is compelling suspense all the way through. The plot owes a little previous films of the genre, but is so stunningly filmed and directed that it really stands out. The film went direct to DVD, which is a pity – it deserves more exposure. Fortunately it is now making its way onto DVD for most regions. The small cast and lack of inside shots looks like low-budget, but it in no way hampers the quality of the film. It is great to see it available as part of the Madman Entertainment’s Asylum range.

Leonardo Sbaraglia, Maria Valverde are superb as the hunted couple. The actors who play the hunters (I don’t want to give away anything here) also turn in top performances. The film was selected for the Toronto and Spanish Film Festivals and thoroughly deserves its high ratings. Once again it shows that foreign companies are the equal of Hollywood, if not better.

This review will appear in Volume 2 No.3 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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