Run Hide Fight

High school was the best school years of my life. I was so lucky being in a class with so many fun personalities, and we actually got a long better than i expected. Every day at High School was of course not fun, there were days that were rough. But overall, i did have a lot of fun in High School and i always look back at those years with joy. Unfortunately, not all people had a good time during those years, and not everyone was lucky like i was. For some students, their High School period could be hell, because of bullying, or with family issues. And for those who had bad years during that time, hopefully you graduated and found a more positive way into the adult life. But as we all know, sometimes horrible things happen, when we least expect it. And i especially remember one year after i ended High School, it was 1998 and i was preparing to move that summer for a new job, in another city. I got the announcement from the company on April 17th that year, that i was welcome to begin in June. Just 3 days after i got that letter, i remember that evening while i was watching the news, i heard about the horrible school shooting massacre at Columbine High School. I still remember some of the footage that the evening news showed, of students running out in panic. It felt unreal, that 2 boys would kill so many people in a High School. The perpetrators, twelth grade ( senior ) students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. These boys destroyed the lives for many families, that can never be healed completely. School shootings have happened quite many times in America since Columbine High School massacre, and it seems impossible to stop completely. Hopefully one day, we will find a way to make sure every school should be safe, and never let this happen again. Some of you may watch The Daily Wire with Ben Shapiro, who is a very active political personality in social media and in news. I personally don´t agree with everything he says, but i did enjoy him reading the Cardi B lyrics to WAP, that was actually brilliant. The Daily Wire is actually a distributor for the film Run Hide Fight, an American action thriller that takes place during a high school massacre. I did see the trailer earlier this year, and it did look like a throwback to action films of the 80´s. Is this film one of the better action releases this year, or is Run Hide Fight a boring attempt to cash in on a emotional subject?

High school student Zoe Hull ( Isabel May ) struggles to come to grips with the death of her mother, Jennifer Hull ( Rada Mitchell ), causing her relationship with her father, Todd Hull ( Thomas Jane ), to become strained. Zoe´s best friend Lewis Washington ( Olly Sholotan ) attempts to ask her to the prom, but it backfires and Zoe leaves to the bathroom when a drink is spilled on her. Suddenly, a van crashes into the school cafeteria carrying  four school schooters. The leader, Tristan Voy ( Eli Brown ) order his accomplices to begin killing students. One of the students manage to get to the bathroom, where Zoe see´s the student die in her arms. As one of the shooters enter the bathroom, Zoe manage to crawl up into the bathroom ceiling. Not knowing what to do, she decides to help survivors, and find a way to get anyone into safety, even if it could cost her life.

In these days it is not often we get to see a young female action star, but that is exactly what we get in Run Hide Fight. And i think this is great, to show that women in film can actually kick ass as well, no matter what they are forced to do to help innocent people. In the case of this film, it is actually one of the students of this High School who is the real hero, something you don´t see very often. We have to talk about actress Isabel May as the main character Zoe Hull. You can tell that she is not the High School girl who cares about nail polish, make up and social media, she is a survivor. And this is exactly why her character match so well with the story of this film. This is the first film i have ever seen Isabel act in, and i have to say i am impressed with her acting performance. On one side she is rough, not afraid to say what´s on her mind, but she also deal with sadness of loosing her mother in cancer, as she talks to her in certain scenes, as if she is actually still around. Those scenes add some more emotional moments to the film, as we can clearly see that Isabel can still feel her mother´s presence, no matter where she is or what she is doing. I also like the fact to see that Isabel is just an ordinary woman, she does not have super powers or pretend to be better than anyone, she is just herself. I also enjoy the main bad guy in this film called Tristan Voy ( played by actor Eli Brown ), who also give a solid performance. You can tell that his character is struggling to be seen through social media, where he wants people to respect him, when in his ordinary life he is seen as a loser. Tristan gives a portrait of a High School student that could be any student in our school, who have had enough of being rejected. I appreciate that this film does not hold back on violence, that we actually get to see shootings, as it could be in a school shooting. Im not saying i like seeing students being killed, but since this is supposed to be a school massacre, it becomes more realistic seeing these criminals do horrific crimes, to be reminded how real this is, and it might happen again. Director Kyle Rankin ( who directed the fun B movie horror comedy Infestation ) have brought the 80´s and 90´s action films back to the table with Run Hide Fight, in a positive way. This is not one of the best films that brings up the subject of High School shootings, but definetely a solid action film. If you don´t know what to watch on VOD, give this film a chance. I have a feeling that you will appreciate this film, especially for showing a young woman as the hero, to show the world that everyone can make a difference, even in the most horrible situations.

Rating: DDD