Rippy - Das Killerkänguru

First off, the trailer is not really a good indication of what to expect from Rippy (aka The Red), which seems to imply it is a comedy horror movie (like 2014's Zombeavers), but in fact the material is played almost entirely straight. The closest film that springs to mind is another Australian film, Razorback from 1984 in which a giant boar terrorises an Australian community. Here, it's a zombie(!) Red Kangaroo that terrorises a small Australian mining town. Razorback is the better film.

Michael Biehn is hopelessly miscast (although at least he does not attempt an Aussie accent), and his apparent overacting (particularly during the first act) suggests he thought he was making a different kind of film. The lead, Tess Haubrich, who plays the small-town cop Maddy who lives in the shadow of her father's legacy, does the best she can with what she was given.

This is clearly a low budget film, and the dodgy cgi and practical effects could definitely have used some more money thrown at it. The movie tried but failed to bite off more than it can roo.

Of course I had to sit down and watch the 2024 horror comedy "The Red" (aka "Rippy") when I stumbled upon it by random chance. I mean, a horror comedy with zombie kangaroos, that just sounds like a blast, especially if it was going to be anything like the 2006 horror comedy "Black Sheep" or the 2014 "Zombeavers".

Writers Richard Barcaricchio and Ryan Coonan certainly had an interesting concept for the movie here, but ultimately the storyline proved to be bland, lackluster and generic. So it wasn't as if the writers revolutionized the horror genre, nor bring anything new to the genre, aside from zombie kangaroos; but those you hardly get to see, so... I found the narrative boring and uneventful, and it was a disappointing movie to sit through, to be bluntly honest. I wanted to like "The Red", I really did, but there just wasn't anything to win me over.

While "The Red" is listed as a horror comedy, I have to say that the movie was frightfully devoid of anything funny. So this was actually straight up a horror movie. A bit disappointing actually.

Initially I was thrilled to see that the movie had Michael Biehn in a leading role. In fact, he was actually the only face on the screen that I was familiar with. I will say, however, that the acting performances in the movie were good. Personally I don't get why they opted to go for Michael Biehn for this role, as his American accent sort of clashed with the rest of the Australian accents from the other performers.

Visually then the movie was not particularly impressive. Most of the scenes take place in the dark, and director Ryan Coonan rarely lets you see anything that involves the zombie kangaroos. Another disappointment, to be bluntly honest. That whole thing with keeping scenes in the dark and leaving the imagery up to the audience belongs in the 1980s. When I sit down and watch a horror movie, of course I want to see the gory mayhem and the creature effects. I will say, that the little gore that was in "The Red" was actually good, and it helped lift up the movie a notch.

All in all, I found "The Red" to be a big disappointment. But I am sure that there should be an audience out there for a movie such as this. This is not a movie that will find its way back to my screen a second time.

My rating of director Ryan Coonan's 2024 movie "The Red" lands on a generous four out of ten stars.

Aka The Red... A remote community in the Australian outback is being hunted by a killer. Young sheriff Maddie struggles to deal with the situation. It gets more shocking when the killer turns out to be a seemingly invincible giant zombie kangaroo.

The premise is dumb. The CGI kangaroo looks dumb. At least, the zombie part has a good ending. This could have been like Cujo or steer fully into camp. There just isn't anything here. None of the characters are that compelling. The sheriff is almost interesting, but I couldn't pay attention to the others. This is a small B-horror that fails to do more.

I must be honest, I didn't expect much going into 'Rippy', thinking it was going to be a cheap B-movie. It probably didn't have a big budget, but the film surprised me with good cinematography, good performances, and good make-up.

Maddy's dad was a local hero. Now she is trying to live up to his legacy, and she is put to the test when bodies start turning up - ripped to shreds. When Schmitty (Michael Biehn) tells her about a giant kangaroo, she doesn't believe him. But when more bodies turn up, and Maddy narrowly escapes an attack by the creature, she puts together a hunting party.

The back story about Maddy's father probably wasn't necessary, but I suppose they wanted a tragic back story in order for the viewer to root even more for our protagonist. 'Rippy' is a good old-fashioned creature feature with a simple premise. Although there are comedic elements, this is by all means a horror, with some creepy moments. Being such a short film (83 minutes) it was fast-paced and I enjoyed every moment.

'Rippy' gave me a sense of 'Razorback' meets 'An American Werewolf in London', and I had a bloody good time with it!

Rippy, or The Red as the title card suggests, is NOT the horror-comedy it's being marketed as. Instead, it's an incredibly dull film that borrows heavily from Jaws but fails miserably at executing any of the key plot points. The tone is inconsistent, and the script is dreadful. Michael Biehn's character swings between cartoonish and trying to channel Robert Shaw, complete with their own cringe-worthy version of the USS Indianapolis scene.

Rather than focusing on the zombie kangaroo-barely featured in the film-we're subjected to a family drama about a cop whose alcoholic father's past is bizarrely glossed over by the whole town. Despite the credits listing a puppeteering team, every kangaroo scene looks like a low-quality video game cutscene with terrible color grading that doesn't match the surrounding shots.

There's nothing redeeming about this film. Don't waste your money-it's a complete lemon with zero entertainment value.