RED VELVET

[Earl Roesel]

I wanted to give everyone a heads up on a recently completed horror movie called RED VELVET.

It's being exhibited at various conventions across the country and should soon have a distributor secured for wide release. Last month I was privileged to have it privately screened for me and was totally blown away. I'm blessed to know many of the people who worked on it, but my praise doesn't simply spring from favoritism...it's a genuine, honest-to-goodness lungbuster of a terror trip!


A little review I prepared...


Though the prospect of yet one more exercise in slasher-inspired antics may initially seem unappealing, an independently produced effort currently making the convention rounds produces quite the opposite reaction. RED VELVET, the maiden voyage of 3Mac Studios, functions as a simultaneous celebration and wry deconstruction of the hallowed likes of HALLOWEEN (1978) and FRIDAY THE 13TH(1980). The keen perception of the filmmakers in hitting upon each and every genre convention imaginable is immediately evident; slasher clichés have been routinely burlesqued in the past, but not in quite this way.

RED VELVET tells of intense, jumpsuited Aaron (Henry Thomas), a young man who, after being told of a birthday bash being held at a nearby lake, spins a scenario of horror to winsome Linda (Kelli Garner). As the day unfolds over Thai cuisine, we are subjected to Aaron's increasingly warped delirium as he mentally metes out grisly fates to each and every one of the unsuspecting partygoers.

At the center of Aaron's deadly milieu is the Maniac, a fanciful-looking malefactor who sports a camera atop his head…this to preserve for Polaroid posterity the death throes of his victims. As an added refinement, a pair of attendant speakers facilitate the killer's theme music (a prerequisite in this line of work, you know). The mayhem ultimately includes Linda's sister Pat (Christen Coppen) as well as Linda herself. But it's all in fun, of course. Just a story…or is it?

In addition to its clear-sighted references to numerous cut-ups of the 1980s, the genre's true salad days, RED VELVET works in subtle homages to everyone from Alfred Hitchcock and Dario Argento to David Lynch and Alejandro Jodorowsky. It's a rare film that can pay tribute to the respective makers of VERTIGO (1958) and EL TOPO (1970) in a single breath, but this one manages.

There's also a great subtextural line of thought regarding the nature of storytelling itself, one that plays upon our very familiarity with these sundry situations. Aaron and his Maniac run through the standard list of slasher conventions seemingly from rote; he, and we, have been reared and rehearsed on these essential ingredients from Day One. So has the no-nonsense Linda, who at one point chides Aaron for indulging in a cliché bit of "sex equals death" that will resonate immediately with longtime fans of the form.

But RED VELVET isn't content to simply name check the various aspects that made slasherdom into the familiar brew it is today. It also has fun in stretching them into sometimes surprising ways, as when Aaron abruptly switches the sexual orientation of a certain character/partygoer after having his previous version of events corrected by Linda. Likewise the Maniac, in addition to having the outward appearance of a malignant Mickey Mouse, straps a specifically pink tool belt onto his waist simply because Linda thinks it might be pretty.

To say much more would be to give away the delicious stream of surprises and intriguing melding of dream with reality. Much better to catch RED VELVET, directed by Bruce Dickson from a script by Joe Moe and Anthony Burns, at one of its special showings as it tours across the country (the modestly budgeted film was shot on 35mm for the big screen). Until next time, remember…"it's all about the stains, baby!"


More info can be found at the official website...

http://www.redvelvetmovie.com/



Dear friends (and RED VELVET stars) Carol Ann Susi and Cristen Coppen, with a lurking Maniac or two in the background.

[Marc Edward Heuck]

I'll be keen to check this out. I'm a big Kelli Garner fan, would love to see what she does with this horror spin.

[Earl Roesel]

I always think of Henry Thomas as the little protagonist of CLOAK & DAGGER and E.T. (the 80s Kid in me showing), so his ability to handle a dark, psychotic role really took me by surprise. The scenes between he and Kelli have a great chemistry.

[Paul Casey]

Yeah, I enjoyed Henry in the Masters of Horror episode "Chocolate." (Was that what it was called?) I'll keep my eye out for this one...especially for the fine Cristen Coppen.

Good to see you posting again, Earl!

[Earl Roesel]

Ah, the venerable and vivacious Cristen! A really great person.

Making his gazillionth cameo in RED VELVET is Uncle Forry Ackerman. He'll also turn up in 3MAC's forthcoming project THE MIDDLEMAN, which Forry deems as having the potential of becoming a bona fide "cult classic".

[Vincent Pereira]

I was talking to one of the producers of this last summer (when it was called THE BIRTHDAY PARTY) about possibly directing it. It was an interesting script and the producer (Sean Fernald) seemed like a really cool guy, so I'm interested in checking out the final film.

Vincent

[Earl Roesel]

Sean is a knockout guy, Vincent, right up there with Joe Moe! I'm really proud to see so many of my friends prospering in the "biz" they've loved their entire lives. A lot of passion and hard work has led up to this point.

[Vincent Pereira]

Yeah, I really enjoyed talking to Sean- his head was in the right place, he obviously loved movies and was "in the biz", so to speak, for all the right reasons- because he wanted to produce some good work. He really dug A BETTER PLACE, too, which is always a plus in my book

Hopefully RED VELVET will get some screenings in the East Coast before too long, because I'm really keen to see the final film. The script certainly took some chances (I hope the gay characters remain in the final version).

Vincent

[Earl Roesel]

Indeed, the gay content made it to the final cut, which only serves to further distinguish the movie above the rut of modern-day slasherdom. Those aspects are pretty unabashed too, even moreso than JEEPERS CREEPERS, which is refreshing.