Red Kingdom Rising

Navin Dev transports us into the dark realm of nightmarish memories through the eyes of Mary Ann, a woman plagued by horrific dreams and a troubled past where she is forced to deal with traumatic experiences as she journeys through a hellish fairy tale. The Red Kingdom holds the truth of her early years she desperately tries to forget yet is forced to live through vivid images of a twisted world ruled by the Red King. It is a world mirroring the story of Alice In Wonderland. The symbolism flows visually and disturbingly entwined within Mary Ann's own nightmare land. However this story takes a darker, more sinister trip into a childhood of unspeakable suffering.

"Red Kingdom Rising" was written, directed and produced by Navin Dev and shot of Super 16mm. The film is stunning, filled with images dangling between light and dark. An accent that helps to complement the emotional struggle between real and fantasy. It delves into the psyche of a disturbed young woman forced to face her past and free herself from her torment. It is a powerful struggle drifting within scenes that play out her childish nightmares in vivid detail. The story flows between the predictable moments of whimsy and the unexpected scenes of horror.

Navin Dev's "Red Kingdom Rising" is a perfect visual journey through childhood trauma and the attempt to reconcile those horrible memories in order to heal. The telling of this hellish fairy tale is intense and macabre. The dance between the characters Mary Ann has created and the actual truth of her childhood builds epically as she is forced to face her biggest demon, the Red King. He is the representation of all her suffering.

The story explores a very real and deeply personal problem that plagues society, the exploitation of innocence and the fragility of childhood. We are forced to go into the dark recesses of our own childhood fairy tales and explore their origins. Origins that may be founded in nightmare and pain. It is a trip into the past prayed forgotten, suppressed into a world of make believe that can keep us chained to our fears. Through a visual representation of horror and fantasy we face our demons and claw our way out of hell.

What sort of film are you expecting with a title like RED KINGDOM RISING ? For me it conjures up some sort of American cold war propaganda film " Now here's what life is like in the real life Hell of communist dominated tyranny . And now a word from that wonderful humanitarian Jerry Falwell" . Wondering what sort of film I was going to watch I did catch the trailer on youtube and I was instantly reminded of HELLRAISER of a young woman terrified by the dark secrets of the house she has moved to . This works in its favour for me because I consider Clive Barker's movie as a high point of horror when the genre was insanely popular . And if nothing else RKR is only 73 minutes long which means if it's an absolute dud I've got an extra half hour that wasn't wasted in vain

Right away I noticed that the film goes further than merely referencing HELLRAISER but stealing aspects wholesale . The central protagonist Mary Ann has a conversation with a therapist who speaks in an American accent . Oh dear I thought . We're going to get a bizarre haphazard location where some characters speak in American accents and some characters in English ones . Any fears of plagiarism were compounded in another early scene where Mary Ann walks in to a dilapidated , maggot ridden kitchen . At this point I was expecting a Chinese puzzle box to appear along with some creepy albino dudes dressed in leather

To be fair after this RKR goes its own way though it travels on a painfully unoriginal path . Have you heard of ALICE IN WONDERLAND ? Well this is more or less a remake with much darker overtones . It doesn't disguise the clichés but does use grotesque imagery in a very strong way and might have been a very effective horror film if it wasn't for the constant distraction of very wooden acting from an obviously inexperienced cast