The Hills Run Red (1966) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Tyler is a film student who becomes obsessed with The Hills Run Red because it's rumored to be the scariest movie ever made. The horror film was directed by Wilson Wyler Concannon, who vanished years ago, and no known copy exists. Tyler views discovering the lost film as his ultimate academic pursuit and a way to prove his dedication to cinema, neglecting his relationship with Serina in the process.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes show Tyler studying the film's lore obsessively, skipping class and dismissing Serina's concerns about their relationship.

• Tyler
• film student
• obsession
• The Hills Run Red
• lost film
• Concannon

Babyface is a masked serial killer who appears as the antagonist in the fictional film The Hills Run Red. He is extremely dangerous because he is a real murderer who has been killing people for decades. Concannon reveals that Babyface is actually his son, born from an incestuous relationship with his daughter Alexa, and has been murdering people since the original film was made, with each on-screen death being turned into real carnage.

Foreshadowing: The rednecks who ambush the group are killed by Babyface, establishing early that he is a real threat, not just a character in a movie.

• Babyface
• serial killer
• masked killer
• Concannon
• real murderer

Wilson Wyler Concannon is Alexa's father, but their relationship is profoundly twisted. After Concannon's wife died, he raped his own daughter Alexa when she was only thirteen years old, resulting in the birth of Babyface. This incestuous origin story forms the dark foundation of the family's horror legacy.

Foreshadowing: Alexa manipulates Tyler and the group into coming to her father's house, showing her deep involvement in the family secret.

• Wilson Wyler Concannon
• Alexa
• father
• daughter
• incest
• Babyface

Alexa orchestrates the entire situation because she wants to reclaim her father's legacy and become a director herself. She pays off the rednecks to create the ambush that brings everyone to her father's house. Her goal is to use Tyler and his friends as actors in her own version of The Hills Run Red, manipulating events to take control of the filmmaking process from her father.

Foreshadowing: Alexa suggests the film might be hidden in her father's house and leads the group there, setting the trap in motion.

• Alexa
• betrayal
• Concannon
• director
• film
• manipulation

The red room is a chamber inside Concannon's secluded home filled with hanging film reels and draped in red fabric. It serves as both a storage space for the original footage and a twisted shrine to his filmmaking legacy. This is where Concannon reveals the dark secrets behind The Hills Run Red and where Alexa later edits her own version of the film.

Foreshadowing: The red room is foreshadowed by the film's reputation as a lost masterpiece with no known copies, suggesting someone has been deliberately hiding the evidence.

• red room
• film reels
• Concannon house
• hidden film
• studio

Twenty years before the events of the film, Concannon took the Babyface costume from the original actor and killed that actor to obtain the mask. He then forced his son (born from his incestuous relationship with Alexa) to wear the costume and kill, turning on-screen deaths into real murders. This created the legend of Babyface as a relentless slasher who never stops hunting.

Foreshadowing: Concannon explains to Tyler that the 'scares' in his film were real, meaning someone had to die for each death scene.

• Concannon
• Babyface origin
• killer creation
• costume
• murder
• film production

Lalo is tortured and killed by Alexa in the barn while she films her version of The Hills Run Red. She records herself torturing him as part of her director's vision, making his death part of the film's production. This demonstrates how Alexa has fully embraced her father's twisted methodology of blending fiction with real violence.

Foreshadowing: Lalo accompanies the group to Concannon's house, and Alexa's interest in filmmaking suggests she has bigger plans for him.

• Lalo
• death
• torture
• barn
• Alexa
• filming

Babyface turns on his father when Concannon shoots Alexa during their confrontation. Despite being a psychopath, Babyface still has enough connection to his mother to react violently when she's harmed. Tyler manipulates this by using a camera to direct Babyface's rage toward Concannon, causing the son to attack his father.

Foreshadowing: Concannon reveals their family connection, establishing the complicated dynamic between father and son.

• Babyface
• Concannon
• father
• son
• fight
• Alexa

Yes, the mid-credits scene reveals that Serina is pregnant with Babyface's child. Earlier, Babyface raped Serina in the barn while Alexa filmed. Alexa then presents Babyface's mask as a gift for the unborn child and sings a lullaby, symbolizing that the cycle of horror and exploitation will continue into the next generation.

Foreshadowing: Babyface's attack on Serina in the barn and Alexa's interest in the 'next generation' foreshadow this dark revelation.

• Serina
• pregnant
• Babyface
• child
• ending
• cycle
• mid-credits

Tyler's laughter at the end represents a disturbing realization that he has become part of the very horror film he was obsessed with. Despite being trapped, bleeding, and witnessing the cyclical nature of violence, he laughs because he understands he's now trapped in the same narrative structure as The Hills Run Red - a story that never ends. His obsession has literally made him part of the film's legacy.

Foreshadowing: Tyler's obsession with finding the lost film and his desire to be part of cinematic history sets up this ironic payoff.

• Tyler
• laugh
• ending
• bleeding
• cycle
• obsession
• horror

Alexa forces Tyler to watch her cut of The Hills Run Red because she wants to thank him for awakening her potential as a director. She tells Tyler that his quest brought her to this moment, giving her the opportunity to break free from her father's control and create her own vision of the film. By making Tyler watch, she forces him to witness the completion of her artistic transformation.

Foreshadowing: Alexa tells Tyler earlier that she's always wanted to direct but her father suppressed her ambitions.

• Alexa
• film
• watching
• director
• potential
• thanks
• tyler