Scarlet Hill – Netflix Series Review

SCARLET HILL on Netflix is a new horror series from Vietnam (org. title Trại Hoa Đỏ). The 8 episodes revolve around a crime mystery. High production quality but it’s very slow. Read our full Scarlet Hill series review here!

Scarlet Hill is a new Netflix horror series from Vietnam (org. title: Trại Hoa Đỏ). The season has 8 episodes – each with a runtime of around 1 hour. In my opinion, this feels like way too many episodes. Especially based on the first few episodes in the series which are very slow-burn.

The plot revolves around a crime mystery, so you’ll be getting horror, crime, and thriller elements in this Vietnamese Netflix series. My main issue with the series is the pacing, which just does not work for me.

Continue reading our Scarlet Hill series review below. Find the series on Netflix worldwide from November 4, 2022.

If only it was like the trailer

I had watched the Scarlet Hill series trailer before starting episode 1. To be honest, it’s an impressive trailer that has nothing (or very little) to do with the actual series.

If you watch the trailer, you might get quite excited (as I did), but the style and energy in the trailer for this series are nowhere in the actual series. It’s false advertising that sends viewers on the path to one experience and then offers up something very different.

Sure, the production quality is impressive and the scares are (for the most part) efficient. However, the pacing is slow. Very slow!

Interesting characters and good scares

However slow Scarlet Hill is in the beginning – and it really is slow – it does offer up some interesting characters and a few good scares. Okay, the first attempt at a jump scare was a bit silly and could be spotted a mile away.

Then we move on to scares, that are less focused on the surprise element of jump scares and instead go for a more familiar feeling of horror. Such as hearing your child suddenly cry out for help. Those scenes work much better.

Also, the mystery part is intriguing enough and by the end of episode 2, you’ll know a lot more. Episode 1 is, I’m sorry to say, not good at selling the concept of the series, which is a shame.

Oh, and you will also have to endure a few crazy sound effects for fight scenes. Straight out of 1980s action movies. Fun in terms of nostalgia, but terrible when it comes to taking anything seriously.

Watch the Scarlet Hill series on Netflix now!

The new Netflix horror series Scarlet Hill from Vietnam comes from Victor Vu. He is one of the most famous Vietnamese directors and has made quite a few horror movies. And yes, you can also find some of them on Netflix.

HORROR MOVIE FROM VICTOR VU

We reviewed his horror movie The Guardian here >

Unfortunately, both the horror movies and this new Netflix series suffer from the same issue; The story might be good and the production quality is impressive, but the pacing is way too slow. Also, they run for too long. Whether it’s the runtime in a movie or the number of episodes in a series.

If only the pacing could be better and the editing (both the story and the production) tighter, then this series does have a lot going for it. I mean, it’s a series that combines horror with a criminal mystery. This is usually a winning combination, so it could’ve worked for Victor Vu’s Scarlet Hill as well.

All 8 episodes of Scarlet Hill are on Netflix from November 4, 2022.

Details

Creator: Victor Vu
Cast: Quoc Huy, Le Xuan Tien, Tram Anh