[Red Velvet]
Plot:A man and a young woman have a chance encounter at a laundry mat which leads to a story about a birthday party where everyone has been killed by a madman in a white jumpsuit.

Cast:Henry Thomas, Kelli Garner, Eric Jungmann, Lateef Crowder, Carlie Westerman, Kevin Wheatley, Michele Nordin, Cristen Coppen, Natalia Baron, Carol Ann Susi, Bret Roberts, Forrest J. Ackerman, S.A. Griffin, Dina Lynne Morishita, Austin Whitlock, Ryan Doom, Jordan Hagan, Steve Arnold.

My Thoughts:Bizarre indie slasher.

Review:"Red Velvet" is the latest indie slasher movie to be released to DVD, an event which is not really met with any real shock or awe because so many indie slashers pass through the DVD market these days that sometimes, you can barely tell them apart. But "Red Velvet" is probably one of the more bizarre ones to come through the straight-to-dvd arena. The film, which was written by Anthony Burns, and directed by Bruce Dickson, follows a girl named Linda (Garner), who is currently living with an obnoxious boyfriend, and their relationship is waining.

When she hits the laundromat one afternoon, she meets a man named Aaron (Thomas), and the two sort of hit it off. After an interesting and slightly confrontational introduction. Aaron seems standoff0ish, and really sarcastic. While Linda is angry her boyfriend went camping with his friends and left her behind. Although the two don't exactly endear themselves to one another, the meeting eventually leads to the two having dinner together, and Aaron, who claims to be a writer, decides to tell Linda one of his stories.

Which ironically enough...involves a maniac killing a group of young people in the woods. Is this life imitating art, or does Aaron just have a twisted sense of humor? "Red Velvet" sets itself up really nicely from the jump, introducing a strong female lead and a strong male lead, but the films twist is just too easy to see coming. Which is tragic because it's twist ending is the best part of the show. Granted, I always appreciate new, refreshing, and unique material from the often beleaguered indie-slasher subgenre, but not when it telegraphs it's big reveal so easily.

However, the movie does hold one secret until the very end...well, somewhat. As a scene early on gives us some insight into Aaron and his "abilities". It's too bad that this movie couldn't work around it's cornerstones, and not spill the beans on Aaron so early in the game. It would've been a better picture if it had been able to find some way to do that. Instead, it gives too much too early. And that makes you get tired of watching really quickly because you already know where things are headed. For a slasher movie, "Red Velvet" is also not very graphic.

The movie offers up a large group of kids, but doesn't do anything memorable when dispatching of them. The kills are gory, but standard when it comes to slasher fair. And there aren't many of them, not as many as you'd expect from an indie slasher, which is supposed to push the envelope far more than mainstream theatrically-released slasher films. But the killer is an interesting animal. Mostly because of his unique costume and the costumes built in surprises. The directing however manages to lessen the killers on-screen effectiveness.

This movie is filmed in a grindhouse-esque color scheme, and many of the angles, especially during the death scenes, aren't handed very well. The performances of Garner and Thomas however do manage to cover up some of these mistakes. The two have good on-screen chemistry, and their back-and-forth banter, sometimes comical, sometimes antagonistic, and other times biting and sarcastic, manage to keep the viewer intrigued by both characters for the most part.

But again, because it becomes too obvious too quickly what Aaron's exactly "up to", it kind of ruins the mystery and intrigue of what will come next and what will come during the finale. But the finale, despite some of it's big surprises being telegraphed early on, still manages to be surprising, and very odd and bizarre when it's all said and done. So while the conclusion has it's weak spots, it's so weird and out there creatively that you've gotta give it props for atleast trying on a new hat, so to speak. "Red Velvet" is an indie slasher with weaknesses, but if you're looking for something new, fresh, and innovative from this subgenre, it wouldn't hurt to give this one a whirl.

Positives:Decent story which takes risks, does some exciting new things, and puts a very innovative spin on the overall slasher formula. Garner and Thomas give good performances. The killers costume and overall look was a much-needed new twist.

Negatives:This movie has two twists which it spoils too early by not masking them very well. That hurts the film a lot.

Overall:Two stars out of four.





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