Red Velvet

This is a very interesting movie being marketed in a non-traditional way. Amazon has the exclusive rights to it as I understand, and the DVDs are kind of made to order. Whatever the marketing and how it well it works for them, this horror movie with a wink of the eye, needs to be seen, especially by fans of Dario Argento and the old school slasher films. Filmed in 35MM 1.85 A/R, the movie looks amazing. The colors are brilliant and definitely an homage to Argento, as are other aspects of the movie. The first time I watched it, I wasn't sure what to think, because I had read too much hype, and was expecting a dumbed down horror comedy making fan of slasher movies. In other words, I had low expectations, and after the first viewing, it left me a little confused. That's why I wanted to listen to the commentary on the second viewing, and this time, I found it to be a very good horror film even if it doesn't take itself too serious. The story is about Aaron (Henry Thomas) who has a problem with his noisy upstairs neighbor Linda (Kelli Garner). He manages to watch through his keyhole and meet her at a laundromat, where he comes off as a big jerk of a neighbor. But he does manage to get her to have lunch with him, where she tells him she is mad because she was invited to a birthday party in a cabin by a lake, and her boyfriend won't take her. So Aaron decides to tell her a story about taking revenge on those friends with a goofy looking stalking killer, that has a Polaroid type camera on his head, and takes a picture of his victim before the slice and dice routine. Yea, the killer is pretty silly, but his killings in this story Aaron is telling, is not silly at all, and pretty gruesome. Linda gets a little fed up with creepy Aaron and leaves, but they both live in the same building, so they meet again, and then Aaron agrees to drive her to the cabin and the birthday party. That's probably as much of the story and plot I should tell, because this movie is basically a story within a story.

The technical aspects of the movie are brilliant with very vibrant colors and excellent camera work, and very good acting and direction. Listening to the commentary is important, because it is easy to miss all the homages on first viewing, and Joe Moe's producer commentary fills in all the blanks. On the gorehound level, there are two or maybe three good kills, and one excellent gore scene with a guy getting sawed in two head to belly. I definitely liked that one, and that along with at least one more would definitely eliminate an R rating, so it's good they didn't care about the rating. But outside of some pretty decent kills, I liked the whole idea of the setup and payoff, even though I pretty much had the whole thing figured out pretty early. It doesn't matter, because watching it all unfold is a lot of fun, especially with the excellent creepy performance by Henry Thomas. I would definitely recommend this movie, it delivers the goods, and is absolutely a delight to watch visually. You could say, it's a very pretty horror film, and even though it does make a little bit of fun of the slasher genre, it doesn't go too far and comes out being just plain silly. On second viewing, it came out much more to me as a good horror film, than a homage to the slasher genre. Give this one a try, it comes with some very good extras, and as I said, a very very good commentary. It's also the last time you'll see of the late Forrest J Ackerman in a brief cameo. Congrats to producer Joe Moe, and director Bruce Dickson for producing a rather unique horror film that is also a lot of fun.

Has to be one of the dumbest movies ever. How do you call this a horror movie? Oh, I get it, it should be listed as a horrible movie.

The cinematography and music are excellent and real standouts in this parody of the slasher films that have dominated horror movies for many years. Henry Thomas is a screenwriter who takes a break from his work because of the screaming matches going on in the apartment across from his. In the laundromat down the block he sees the very girl (Kelli Garner) who has been arguing with her boyfriend in the apartment across the hall. They are antagonistic toward each other at first but before the second rinse cycle they agree to eat lunch together. To entertain her he tells her tales of the untimely demises of all her friends who are at this moment at a cabin deep in the woods, throwing a birthday party she could not attend because her boyfriend did not want her to go.

Later, she and the screenwriter take an impromptu drive up to that very cabin. I won't reveal any more of the plot, but suffice to say that the story is well written and the ending will shock you! "The Sci-Fi Guy" himself, "Mr. Monster", Forrest J Ackerman, has a cameo rather early on in this movie. Watch for him!

It's like Before Sunrise meets slashers like Scream but on acid! The movie is kind of a fresh take on the genre with OK performances from the leads which to me the movie was more interesting with them talking and bickering and making up zany horror stories than when it becomes a reality. To me it fails at a horror/comedy because there weren't enough laughs and it fails at an actual horror movie because there weren't enough scares and suspense, it just becomes a typical, self aware slasher movie that it looks like it was going against. It was ambitious and there were a few nice gory bits and it is somewhat a change of pace for psychological/slashers but the ending just sucked and didn't make much sense, was it all in his head? I don't know but it could of had a much better twist. Skip it. More of a 2.5 out of 5 stars.

I was lucky to see a screening of Red Velvet at Fear Fest 2, and I really, really enjoyed this film. The film is currently being shown around the comic/horror convention circuits. The producers stated that they then hope to have a limited theatrical release, culminating with the DVD release sometime in the Fall.

If you enjoy Argento-esquire cinematography, an eerie Goblin-esquire score, a good cast including Henry Thomas in the lead, goobery-gore ala 70's/80's slasher era, and finally a very funny dark comedic script, then you will more than likely enjoy this film.

If you get the opportunity to see this film I highly recommend you do so...you will not be disappointed.