Customer Reviews

Red Hook

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

By no means is this on my list of favorite horror movies, but it wasn't bad. It is fairly predictable but I didn't feel like it was a waste of time. The film quality is okay, the acting has some hits and misses, and there are a couple of good kills. The DVD cover is more menacing than the actual movie, but if you keep your expectations low, you might like this one.

<strong>Red Hook</strong> (Elizabeth Lucas, 2009)

Either <em>Red Hook</em> has the worst DVD audio transfer I have heard since <em>Nine Dead Gay Guys</em> or Elizabeth Lucas has created the first mumblecore slasher film. Which of these things is actually accurate is irrelevant; the film is worthless either way, another generic slasher film with an all-too-predictable twist ending, character flaws that are plot devices instead of hooks for us to get to know them, and a slew of young-and-beautifuls whose sole reason for existence is to get carved up by Evil Slasher Guy. I'd write out a full review about this mess, but instead I'll let the ratings speak for me: as I write this, the film has a 3.2 rating (out of 10) on IMDB and an 8% (134 ratings) on Rotten Tomatoes. If you're a fan of horror movies so awful that only 8% of the people who saw them liked them, then by all means, give it a go. But if you value such things as characterization, suspense, solid plot, twist endings that actually surprise you, etc., avoid this like the plague. *

There's really no other way to sum it up, Red Hook is easily one of the least interesting horror movies I've seen in years. It's a scavenger hunt gone wrong, with a predictable ending. The writers attempt to misdirect the audience halfway through the movie to lead up to a twist ending, but they try a little too hard, making the conclusion obvious.

The film's production quality is poor, and the directing is below average. The cast does a decent job, as most were relatively experienced television actors. I have no idea why the word "unrated" was thrown on the cover, as the kill scenes will only make the average horror fan yawn. The only reason I gave the film two stars instead of one was because I enjoyed the movie's score.

I write this review with the understanding that anyone who worked on the movie will probably rate my review as "unhelpful", but I'm just being honest. I thought it was painfully boring, and I'd suggest that you at least rent it before buying the DVD.

I thought this movie had a decent plot, and kept you interested in what was going to happen next. In the past few months I have seen the worst of Hollywood, and indies have to offer and I say this movie tried and succeeded in being interesting, keeping my attention, and did not have me yelling at my television demanding my money back!=o)

You might think that a horror movie named Red Hook might have something to do with H.P. Lovecraft's short story "The Horror at Red Hook." Detective Malone, suspicious of Robert Suydam, raids Suydam's flat after he and his new bride are found dead. There he is sucked through a gate into a hellish landscape. Sounds like an interesting premise for a movie, right?

Director Elizabeth Lucas isn't interested in any of that. In fact, the only thing Lucas is interested in is creating a movie with a ho-hum slasher flick with a very short shelf life. How else can you explain a plot which involves idiot college student stereotypes competing in a New York City treasure hunt over...wait for it...White Stripes tickets!

Remember when the White Stripes were all the rage? Yeah, that's so 2009. Lucas, who also wrote the story, would have been better off fabricating another band. Instead, it just dates the film, which has no other goal than dreamy montages of Midwestern college girl Jenny Traylor (Christina Brucato) just trying to get by in the big city. After a promising start where Jenny witnesses her sister's death at the hands of a serial killer cop, the movie then takes the entire first half of its running time (that's 45 minutes, I counted every one of them) before the killing begins again.

In those very long 45 minutes, Jenny makes goo-goo eyes at Gavin (Tate Ellington) who also lost a sibling, moves in with her theater stereotype roommate AnGELa (Hollis Scarborough) - and yes, that's how she spells it - and tries desperately to ignore walking plot device Tim (Bryan Fenkart) who keeps trying to organize a scavenger hunt.

Ellington and Brucato are the only two actors of any merit here. Everyone else plays a cliché waiting to die: the jock, the lesbian, the loose chick. They mug for the camera, they overact, and they quip wise with modern banter that's meant to be authentic but just comes off as embarrassing.

Throughout the film we are led to believe that there are a series of clues -- for both the characters and the audience -- that when pieced together will reveal the mystery. The big secret is what Red Hook really is - a neighborhood in Brooklyn. But then, Lucas figures kids these days don't read, so they have no way of knowing about Lovecraft's short story. Or how to read a map. The only mystery here is how this derivative film was made at all.

Red Hook is a slightly more independent film that was both written and directed by newcomer Elizabeth Lucas. Elizabeth has a couple other smaller titles under her belt but this is the first that I believe was able to get any meaningful distribution and I'm glad it was able to see the light of day. I'm going to start off by saying that this is not a great movie. Wait. Don't run away quite yet. Just because it doesn't bring anything overly original to the table does not however mean it is a bad movie because quite frankly it's not.

We open with the film watching a young girl named Jenny (who when grown up is played by Christina Brucato, an actress who really should get more rolls in horror films) watchs her older sister be brutally murdered right before her eyes. Well of course this is a great reason for her to grow up and become partially agoraphobic. Fortunately though it's not so severe that she can never leave her room as she is away at college and while she tries to go out as little as possible outside of classes what fun would that be for a movie? (Actually a slasher trying to stalk an agoraphobic person through a giant house could be a ton of fun...)

Jenny's roommate, Angela(Hollis Scarborough), is a theater major and at first tries to be friends with Jenny, quickly gets bored with her, then becomes interested in using her as a character model when she finds out about her sister's killing. She's a pest through most of the film and while she provides some plot movement the main source comes from a young man named Gavin (Tate Ellington) that she develops a relationship with. Gavin also had a death in the family when he was young so she is able to relate to him and they both just click when getting to know each other. He is able to partially break through her agoraphobia and is even able to talk her into joining a scavenger hunt that the entire floor is going to be participating in.

The entire scavenger hunt is being filmed to be a reality TV show promotion, however someone involved in the hunt has a hunting idea of their own. This is where the movie finally picks up as one by one each of the participants are slowly killed and as the cast is narrowed down so is the identity of the killer. The killer quickly both takes over the show and starts leaving clues of his own to motivate them to act out what he wants to see happen.

Red Hook may be a highly predictable movie to many horror fans out there. It is very much a slasher that follows the classic formula and while you aren't going to have a lot of surprises watching the film you WILL have fun watching the film. I would say the perfect scenario for checking this one out is with a group of friends (preferably in a night made just for watching horror films) to be able to harass any of your mutual friends who jump or to just have a good time while guessing what's coming next.

Red Hook is, at best, a watchable Scream, I know What You Did Last Summer, Urban Legend, type slasher movie, with a few flaws. I was surprised Red Hook was only 120 mins. in length, because I felt like it was 2 hours at the most. I was already thinking that they should've edited out the prolonged character/victim intros and just cut to the start of the scavenger hunt. It just dragged out even more when you already knew who the killer was (Yeah, I figured it out before the killing started, just like the rest of you). But the acting is good, the kill scenes are effective, though lacking any real "guts" for any respectable gore hound and has nice little pop soundtrack. Not really a bad effort, but just watchable, nothing memorable. The makers of Red Hook should really use this film as something to look back on, note the flaws, and if they're filming any more slasher films, improve on it if they desire to be successful in this already overstretched genre.