When I first saw Danny Vendramini's thriller DESPERATE PREY (or REDHEADS as it was called back then), I was blown away with the film. This is one of those thrillers that begins with suspense, catches the audience in it's grasp, then never lets go.
The story concerns Lucy (Claudia Karvan), a young trouble-maker who lives in a sort of juvenile hall penitentiary for girls. She has been having a sexual affair with an older, wealthy head of a law firm. When her lover is killer while she is at his apartment, she flees the scene hiding the video tape she made of the evening, that includes the killer's identity. After escaping back to the penitentiary Lucy's friends become less and less as the killer methodically kills them one by one, searching for Lucy. To avoid death and find the real killer Lucy teams with her tempestuous lawyer Diana (Catherine McClements).
I saw this film when it premiered on the Starz network on cable as REDHEADS, and, even after repeated viewings, it still holds the same suspense and chills it did on first viewing. It was made in Australia, and released in very limited distribution in the U.S. but more U.S. thrillers should take the example set by REDHEADS. It has style, some of the best visuals and camera work I've ever seen, substance, the plot for the film is actually SMART, and human characters. Not every character is likable, but this is part of the film's charm.
