The Redsin Tower

"The Redsin Tower" is, for me, the most disappointing film of 2007. Hyped as a major underground genre film, the release on DVD was a much anticipated affair. In fact, I held off watching the movie for several weeks until I was really in the mood for what I believed would be a splendid treat. I wish I hadn't bothered.

While the opening credits promise stylish production values, the film soon starts to descend into a chaotic mess. While early scenes are okay, the moment the film intends to start building tension, everything falls apart.

This is a poorly executed vehicle and a lapse in form for Vogel and the Toetag gang. Coming across as a poor man's "Evil Dead meets Dark Waters", this is a film that will disappoint many, including die-hard Toetag fans.

5 out of 10 for the stylish opening credits, a decent soundtrack and solid effects. While some of the dialogue is entertaining, the film immediately starts to suffer as it enters genre territory.

A genuine wasted opportunity.

The Redsin Tower is a throwback to the teen horror films of the mid to late 1980's. The movie that it takes its major cue from is Night Of The Demons. We all know the story…bored young people decide to go to party in a place that they really shouldn't be hanging around. In this movie that place is an abandoned structure known as the Redsin Tower. There are stories that it is haunted and that makes it an even more enticing place for our group of potential victims to go to and party.

The first 45 minutes of Redsin is your standard fare, seen before in countless other films. What stands out this time around however, is the realistic partying that takes place. I mean, there is a lot of dope smoking going on. And it's not just two characters sneaking off to catch a buzz…everyone is getting high. In one scene two characters in a reefer induced haze talk about the best way to roll a joint. I found this very realistic because I have been involved in that very same conversation more than once in my misspent youth. Unlike in any other film before it, the folks in Redsin Tower really look like they are getting pretty wasted.

Another riff the film rides in its first act is the jilted, psychotically jealous boyfriend of one of the partiers. Once again we have all seen this character before, but the portrayal here is totally unsympathetic. This guy is a real asshole and you can see why the girl dumped him. I found his over the top performance to be one of the highlights of the first half of the film. The rest of the acting is pretty decent for a low budget film cast with a bunch of unknowns.

Once our group of stoned out party animals get to their destination is where the Redsin Tower begins to differ from the films that it is obliviously riffing on. The murders are very graphic. These are not your typical 'gore gags'. They are nasty ultra violent attacks that haven't been seen in a slasher film since the early eighties heyday of Lucio Fulci. There are also some of the most intense scenes of demonic possession that I have ever seen. I mean, it really looks like it hurts and in one disgusting scene I actually cringed. Only one special effect didn't do the trick for me, but other than that, hats off to FX guy Jeremy Cruise for grossing me out on more than one occasion.

The other thing that separates Redsin from the rest of the splatter pack is the look of the movie. The set design is excellent, as is the cinematography and direction. Give these talented folks more money and a more original concept and I think you will really see them shine.

The Redsin Tower is a low budget shot on video horror movie that is heads above the rest of the crap that is being released on a weekly basis from companies such as Lionsgate, Brain damage and Asylum. Is it a great film? No, but it is very entertaining and I can confidently recommend it to any hardcore horror fan out there looking for a good time.

Fred Vogel, director of the (mostly) effective faux snuff August Underground trilogy, takes the basic plot of Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead—a group of people travel to a remote abandoned building where, one-by-one, they fall victim to an evil spirit that possesses their bodies—and gives it the ToeTag treatment: the characters are universally loathsome; there is plenty of swearing and female nudity; and, of course, Vogel (with help from make-up FX guy Jerami Cruise) delivers oodles of violence and general nastiness.

Unfortunately, despite sounding like a gore-hound's dream-come-true, The Redsin Tower is actually a rather disappointing film that suffers badly from an uneventful beginning (a good 40 minutes pass before anything really interesting happens), some rather confusing moments and an unnecessary sub-plot (featuring a psycho ex-boyfriend of one of the girls), and bloody awful lighting that often makes it impossible to see what is going on.

Vogel would have done much better if he'd 'borrowed' more than just the plot from Raimi's 1982 masterpiece for his first stab at a 'real' film. Had he emulated the actual structure and pacing of The Evil Dead, which was a non-stop horror roller-coaster ride, then the result might've been much more successful. Instead, the first half of the film is wasted watching a despicable bunch of losers do nothing but take drugs and talk about sex; the second half is spent watching them stumble around an old building in the dark before being killed. And with absolutely no-one likable in the whole movie, it's hard to give a damn what happens to them anyway.

Even those viewers who settle down to watch this film purely for the gore will end up feeling a tad cheated. Although there are some violent deaths (my favourite being when a pretty goth chick gets axed), everything is shot in such poor lighting that it's almost impossible to see any of the bloodletting clearly. It's a shame that the only special effect that really sticks in my mind is a very silly looking bat creature.

With his undeniably powerful faux snuff movies, Fred Vogel certainly made a name for himself on the underground horror circuit. However, if he wishes to create such a stir with fans of more 'traditional' horror films, then he really needs to come up with something better than this.

First thing I thought and said after finishing August Underground Mordum was "Well, that was f@ckin stupid." The first thought after watching The Redsin Tower was "Well, that was f@ckin weak." So I guess the difference between the two is one's a really negative remark and the other's a normal negative remark. So I guess, Toe Tag and Vogel did actually make a better film. But that's like me saying that piece of crap doesn't smell as bad as this one.

Redsin Tower is just an average film, flat out. The movie is simply about a group of kids looking for a place to party, have sex and do the cliché things teenagers do in a horror film. They end up choosing the supposedly haunted Redsin Tower. There's another weak and pointless side-story about a psycho ex-boyfriend who has unbelievable investigative skills. God knows how the hell he found the Redsin Tower, or why he went there. Did they mention it? I don't know and I don't care. So yeah, that's the story. And guess what? It stunk. Before complaining about the flick let me say what I "liked". I thought the gore/effects were done pretty well. But can someone tell me what the hell was hanging from the ceiling when the fat kid with the lisp looked up? A flying lizard/dinosaur thing? That on the other hand was not a good effect, it looked like crap. Another thing that I liked.....hmmm...okay I enjoyed one performance. The girlfriend of the Burnout character. She seemed to be the best actress of them all, and actually exuded a "nice girl" feel. Besides that I didn't give a damn about any character. I especially disliked the psychotic boyfriend and goth girl. I also thought it was shot pretty well, it was nice and clear.

But overall, the movie is just a weak, clichéd filled, amateurish movie that delivers no scares, unless the cheap loud sound effect trick was used. It's a completely average movie that a few people will enjoy, most likely independent horror fans. Only check out this flick if you're bored or if you're a fan of Vogel's previous work.

This has to be one of the DUMBEST piles of DUMB I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE I liked Agust Underground and thought Mordum was OK for what is was. Penance was unnecessary, and this it one of the most poorly directed and scripted, acted, edited films I have seen in my life. Everything in it is just a waste of your life. There is absolutely nothing redeeming or interesting about it. Actually I take that back, it's interesting to see how horrible dull and predicable illogical a film can be. Nothing is shocking the entire movie consists of a guy with a lisp that had me rolling on the floor trying to be scary and getting one of your moderate looking girl friends to take her top off and do her best impression of Evil Dead that she can. Throw Zack Morris in there and a dead end useless plot line and you have this pile or brain damage.