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Joe, even if Ron Adams disallows a public showing, I'd still absolutely bring the film along for a private screening to select company. Ron might even okay the former case if it was shown later at night, perhaps midnight, with an advisory warning beforehand.

RED VELVET is anything but the typical slasher exercise in cliche I was expecting. Rather, the film very cleverly deconstructs those beloved situations in a cannily sophisticated way; they are simultaneously spoofed and duly honored. Thus does RED VELVET work on any number of levels, whether one is looking for the superficial gory goods or something deeper and more personal.

Indeed, I very highly recommend it to the Scarlet readership.

Don't let the subgenre's current tarnishing dissuade you from this...it's a uniquely worthwhile, certainly character-driven experience that took me totally by surprise!

Here's 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!"

I'm very, very happy to support you in every way, Joe. The film is certainly deserving of the highest praise, trust me!

I highly recommend that line of action, Arlene! You're sure to enjoy it; RED VELVET is a slasher film that's definitely a cut above the rest, to borrow an FJA-esque turn of phrase.