I have been following this one for a while now. Living only about an hour away from the abandoned tunnels in Pennsylvania, this movie caught my interest. With special gore and splatter FX from Hardgore Core, artwork from Joe Meredith, and direction from Harry Collins, I was very curious about how this one was going to turn out.
The Sidling Hill follows that of Adam (Nathan Hine), a troubled Iraq veteran who suffers from serious shell shock. When his friend, Harry (Mike Knapp) and his daughter, Allie (Tiffany Laskie) decide to bring Adam along on a hike through the Sidling Hill abandoned tunnel, inhabitions break down for Adam, as he suffers from horrific visions. It would seem the tunnel itself is haunted, and is having a terrible profound effect on Adam's already disintegrating demeanor.
The Sidling Hill is filled with brooding atmosphere throughout, and for a very low budget film, succeeds in getting under the skin of the viewer. After viewing it late last night, I awakened still having images of the film fresh in my brain.
It starts out a tad slow, building character development, with Adam being the films focus. As mentioned before, he is suffering greatly from horrors that happened to him in Iraq. This becomes a major focus for the viewer as we watch his descent into madness. Nathan Hine plays Adam, and puts on a shockingly good performance. He has several deep monologues that explore his thinking, and were some of the shining moments concerning the films acting. With a small cast, Hine was able to really explore the darkness of this character and makes the film well above average for a low budgeter.
Once when the characters get to the abandoned tunnel, the movie wisely stays there, creating some brooding and dark atmosphere filled with claustrophobia. It is here where the heart of the movie begins to pump, and blood starts flowing.
Speaking of blood flowing, one of the films focuses, particularly in the second half, is within its gory SFX. HGC creates some real nasty FX work for the film. And the FX never seem out of place within the context of what has been built around them. Everything has a natural flow to it. No matter how bloody it gets, it all feels well placed.
Another element that plays a major role in the films dread filled atmosphere is within its score work from Scott Appleby and Will England. Filled with piano interludes, and synth driven atmospheres, the score work wraps itself around the film, completing the nasty tone.
My final thoughts on The Sidling Hill; this is a solid good outing into low budget horror. It's bleak and never let's up with its atmosphere. With cinematography that helps to capture the claustrophobia of the tunnel, The Sidling Hill succeeds in putting the viewer into a miserable place.
