Film Fests
[REVIEW] Brooklyn Horror Film Festival: ‘Red Rooms’ (2023)
Many of us find it frustrating to watch the justice system repeatedly fail. Most people are also very familiar with hyperfixation on certain topics. So, when these two traits intersect, things get weird but interesting in the psychological crime thriller Red Rooms.
Kelly-Anne (played by Juliette Gariepy) finds herself overly invested in the high-profile case of a serial killer who targeted young women. While it’s clear that he’s guilty, the judicial system rarely holds bad men accountable for their crimes. So Kelly-Anne sets off on a journey through the darkest corners of the internet to find the damning piece of evidence that will put this child killer away for good.
Red Rooms’ Take on the Criminal Justice System
Red Rooms is a slow burn but makes important stops as it gets to its final destination. Aside from the obvious and understandable jaded look at the criminal justice system, it also holds the media responsible for making monsters celebrities. However, one of my favorite things it does comes via the character Clémentine (played by Laurie Babin).
Clémentine believes Ludovic Chevalier (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos) is innocent even though she doesn’t know him and has no reason to doubt the obvious truth of the matter. However, she has chosen to defend and support this man accused of kidnapping, torturing, and murdering teenage girls for an online audience. This character pisses me off because she’s possibly the most realistic. She’s every R. Kelly fan, Fox News Pundit, or Twitter Devil’s Advocate who refuses to see people suffering as she sets up a house in her delusional world.
A Turning Point: Confronting the Truth
That is until Kelly-Anne shows her a video of what the man she’s trying to turn into a martyr really does. That is when she becomes a different person and has to truly sit with the impact of the monster’s actions. This is also when she has to face the person she’s become. It made me think of the many times POC call out an issue, but Karens refuse to listen until there’s dashcam footage on Facebook.
Why Red Rooms Stands Out as a Courtroom Drama
While the Canadian psychological thriller might not be for everyone, the way the subject matter is handled is something that should be studied. Writer and director Pascal Plante never takes the gross sensationalist way out by showing what has been done to these girls. Instead, we hear descriptions from lawyers. Or we see the reactions of people who have to watch it. I much prefer this to the gratuitous torture porn that we typically distract from the bigger conversations to be had. This is possibly one of the things I appreciate most about the film.
Is Red Rooms Worth Watching?
That being said, the movie was too slow for me overall. It also felt like it lacked something, as all of Kelly-Anne’s conflicts are internal, and never communicated to the audience. Which leaves us wondering why she does anything she does. It also left us hanging out for a minute before we knew if she was on the side of the victims or the perpetrator. We don’t need her to have a random person to spell everything out for, but we do need to know what our protagonist is for and against, if nothing else.
Filling in so many gaps about her motivations is my biggest hurdle with the movie. It makes it feel like something is missing, as if we only had parts of our hero’s journey. Perhaps that’s part of the voyeur aspect and is intentional, but wasted on me because I’m a heathen. It may not bother others as much as it bothers me. Either way, there is something here that makes it worth the watch.
It’s very interesting when critics cover Part # of a franchise without having seen the previous entries. I’ve personally seen critics who flat-out say that Part 2 or 3 doesn’t make sense without having seen the previous film. And therein lies the problem: film critics who refuse to admit they haven’t seen EVERYTHING. But does the hard work rely solely on the film critic (or the general viewer)? Should a sequel (or third in a trilogy) drop in heavy context clues for someone who is just now tuning in? I think the answer falls somewhere between those points. Of the many reasons, that is one of the main reasons I was able to enjoy The Barn Part III so much. Let’s dig into it.
Some time ago, Pastor Josh Harper (Courtney Gains) assumed he had rid the world of evil. He was dead wrong. Well, hopefully just wrong. His nephew Kyle (Tristan Olsen) and friend Megan (Amanda Byrne) accidentally re-unleash the evil; Josh must attempt to vanquish it. Again. There’s just one big problem…the Fall Festival is going on, and damn near the entire town will be in attendance. What can go wrong?
Can You Review PT. 3 Without Seeing PTS. 1&2?
Before we really get into it, I think we should jump back to the point I was making in the intro. I have seen tons of posts, screenshots, and scenes from The Barn franchise over the years. For some reason, I’ve never gotten around to seeing the films. So there was a sort of internal struggle when deciding whether or not to cover The Barn Part III. Would I watch it just for fun? What if I didn’t like it? Sure, I could review the film on its own merits, disregarding moments that don’t make sense to a first-time viewer. But that felt disingenuous. After writing a weighty pros and cons list, I figured, what the hell. Let’s give it a watch! It turns out that was the right decision.
Co-writers Justin M. Seamen and Zane Hershberger do an excellent job of balancing fan service and, surprisingly, first-time viewers. There are definitely moments where I felt a bit lost, though I was able to put the pieces together based on context clues after sitting with the film for a few hours. By the time the credits rolled, I felt like I saw enough (as a first time viewing of the franchise) to understand how we got to this point in the franchise. Moreover, it made me more motivated than ever to go back and watch the first two films. If The Barn Part III is this gory, then I can only assume there’s a similar level of gore to the first two.
Strong Script, Stronger Kills
Hershberger and Seamen tell a tale that’s not overwhelmingly original; evil is raised and must be stopped by the good people. It’s a race against the clock, fast-paced creature feature/slasher. It’s hard to really reinvent the wheel there. And somehow, Herhshberger and Seamen manage to make you feel like you haven’t really seen anything like it before. Even during moments of slightly cheesy dialogue, the script’s tone stays beyond consistent that it just all feels right. To me, that feels very rare in this subgenre of film. Rather than being nothing but conduits for buckets of blood, the characters in The Barn Part III exist within their story purpose while still feeling fully fleshed out.
Much of The Barn Part III’s enjoyment comes from the delightful performances of the film’s lead cast. Courtney Gains takes the reins from Will Stout as Josh Harper, and Gains is wonderfully charming. Much of his screen time is shared with Night of the Comet’s Kelli Maroney, who is still an absolute blast to watch on the screen. But it’s one of The Barn Part III’s co-leads, Amanda Byrne, who steals the show. It’s hard to believe this film is Byrne’s debut feature acting role. She really gives it her all, and you can feel it through the screen.
The Barn Part III Is a Practical Effect Gorefest
Enough edging. Let’s get into the actual meat and potatoes of The Barn Part III: the kills. Simply put, Justin M. Seamen and Zane Hershberger struck gold. I’ve seen way too many slasher films/creature features, so this isn’t hyperbolic…The Barn Part III has some of the most insane, captivating, and bloody kills I’ve seen. Especially for an indie film. Whatever the budget was, the film looks like it was more expensive than that.
I have a feeling that there is a heavy crossover between fans of this franchise and Joe Bob Briggs, so let me put it to you this way. The Barn Part III has it all: bisections, dissections, full-body degloving, mini killer pumpkins, pitchfork-fu, shotgun-fu, vine-fu…and that’s just scratching the surface. Besides transporting me to a time and place that I hold dear to my heart, the late 90s and early aughts, this film just checked every single box for me. I can only hope the first two do the same.
The Barn Part III is a violent, practical effects-filled rollercoaster that doesn’t let off the brakes from the jump. To me, this feels like the proper send-off to a franchise I’m new to, and it’s giving me severe FOMO. Full of insane kills and a charming main cast, The Barn Part III is neck and neck for best of the fest for me. Do yourself a favor, gas up your tractor and get to The Barn as soon as possible.
I frequently start my reviews about horror comedies along the lines of, “I typically don’t enjoy horror comedies…” and I noticed something: I’ve been saying that a lot. Has there been such a shift in horror comedies over the past few years? Or have I finally started looking in the right places? I started saying that line in my festival review coverage around the time I saw Sean Nichols Lynch’s Red Snow, and here I am five years later saying the same exact thing. Have I changed? Probably. All of that is to say, the first film I screened for GenreBlast X was Demonetize, and it restored my faith in the make-fun-of-influencers subgenre of horror.
What Is Demonetize About?
Martin Robinson (Sean Carrigan), host of Ghost Pros, and his cameraman/sidekick Terrence (Matty Cardarople) plan to bring the Ratliff House into the internet age. After Martin calls out Paul Corey (Cherdleys) on Jackie London’s (Kimia Behpoornia!!) podcast, Paul and a host of other online influencers, including Jane Lincoln (Janine Hogan), descend onto the Ratliff House to see if it’s as haunted as everyone says it is. But little does everyone know what deadly plans the ghosts have in store for the ill-fated influencers.
There Is NO AI in Demonetize!
First off, whoever’s idea it was to have “fuck AI” at the end of the credits deserves a standing ovation. Co-writers Janine Hogan and Alexander Boyd Watson took a chance with Demonetize, battling the influx of influencer-based horror. Very few seem to really nail the cohesion of creating characters who are just annoying enough without pissing off the filmgoer and crafting the right characters to make you feel something for. Moreover, the way Hogan and Watson craft an ensemble piece that gives everyone a moment to shine (like a diamond or a turd) helps glue the emotional threads from tip to tail.
Impressive Script About Annoying People
It’s hard not to be impressed by the writing prowess of this duo, but what’s even harder not to be impressed by is the restraint it took to not make Demonetize a found footage film. And that’s coming from someone who would consider found footage to be their favorite subgenre. There are a handful of times when you can see/feel the budget, which could have been easily obfuscated through found footage means. But instead, Demonetize is presented traditionally–warts and all– and you can feel the charm and craft behind it.
Much of the humor from Demonetize comes from Paul Corey and Martin Robinson. Cherdlys and Sean Carrigan, respectively, bring enough charm to their characters while maintaining the line of good and bad taste. Director Alexander Boyd Watson could have easily let Cherdlys take the Shawn Ruddy a la Deadstream route, but that route never works. Rather, Watson’s direction is more gauchely soft. We constantly get that influencer-like humor and annoyance, but there’s a beautiful balance that keeps everything entertaining.
The Horror of It All
While the humor lands and feels purposeful, Demonetize exists in this eerily frightening atmosphere. Once the house takes control, the humor slowly fades, leading to some memorable and creepy moments. The horror-y side of Demonetize won’t keep you up at night, nor will it make you rush to your bedroom after shutting off the hallway lights, but it’s different enough to stand out from the majority of influencer-based horror flicks.
There are some moments where the filmmakers rely a bit too heavily on CGI that doesn’t look too great. And honestly, it’s a relief to know their stance on AI. Too many times I have caught a film at a festival, and it’s full of AI, and no one seems to care. So it’s refreshing to see some CGI that maybe doesn’t look the greatest, but at least it’s not AI!
Overall, Demonetize is a fresh flick in an oversaturated subgenre. It delivers on laughs, some solid scares, and a cast of social media-obsessed people who you actually don’t hate. And that’s rare. Demonetize is a great horror film to throw on your rotation for our upcoming 31 for 31 (or 61 Days to Halloween). And extra points because this is now the second horror film I’ve seen with a Dropout.TV cast member!
