User reviews

This surreal indie features a young man living in New York in the not-to-distant future. Acid rain plagues the city making people nuts and the titular title creatures. The man runs into an intriguing woman on the subway but when he tries to talk to her all that is left is a strange tooth. Later the woman becomes his roommate and it all get's absolutely bizarre from there.

Red Cockroaches touches on a gamut of topics least of which is incest. Pretty nuts but it's a very good flick otherwise. Very well made and acted on a shoestring.

S10 Says: Acting: 8 / 10 Direction: 8 / 10 Writing: 7 / 10 Photography: 7 / 10 Production Design: 7 / 10 The Sound: 7 / 10 Music: 6 / 10 Laughs / Scares / Thrills / the Gore Zone: 6 / 10 Fun Value: 6 / 10 Overall: 7 / 10 Score: 69 / 100

I still can't get over the fact that this film's budget was $2000. The director- cinematographer- editor, (Cuban-born Miguel Coyula) has put together a very intense film that doesn't reveal its minimal resources. Here we have a very dark story with very twisted characters. I felt that there was a couple of loose ends in the subplots, but that's just a personal observation. The film grabs you to the seat for it's hour and a half min, and stays with you afterward. That's, i think , the best way to describe it without spoiling it. I doubt that Red Cockroaches will reach broad audience because of its perhaps overly artistic nature, but those looking into something really unusual will appreciate it.

Every movie has it's good and it's bads, and this is no exception. The scifi aspect of it was pleasantly low key. The director seems to have a knack for cinematography, which by and large was superior. The world it set up was interesting, and there is nothing wrong with the Sci Fi elements.

Except for, to remind us that it is the future, flying cars are digitally added time and time again. Why? Enough of the flying cars. Show a few of them, and that's fine. Not every time somebody is on the street, one just happens to whirl by. It's agitating. Not all of the time did it bother me, but sometimes, when I am trying to pay attention to the characters on screen that that hunk of metal comes across the screen.

The "Personal" story of the film takes over past the scifi aspects, which generally is something I respect in a film. Not this time. The story revolves around a thoroughly unpleasant man's sexual tension and attraction to a mysterious young woman (who is equally unpleasant). Sure, the mystery involved was more important then the fact that these were characters I couldn't care about. I probably wasn't supposed to like them, thus the attraction to the mystery.

And isn't everyone tired of the cliché "Man sees Mysterious girl who changes his life" thing anyway? I mean, seriously. Too many indy film clichés in this. Including the fact that if the characters aren't swearing at each other, they are trying to say something somewhat intellectual. People don't talk like that in real life.

Mysteries remain unsolved by the end, probably because this was planned as the first part in a trilogy. Which is fine. However, nothing conclusive ended this film. There was no catharsis, and all we got was a card that said "Red Cockroaches" to let us know the film was over.

With all my criticisms of the movie, I am looking forward to viewing the next two films. Perhaps the Director might have improved on his craft, because that's all it really needs. It had a lot going for it, but unfortunately became just another prententious indy film.

It's the future again and the world is screwed up again. It seems acid rain is mutating people and a company called DNA 21 is staging a cover-up, but none of that is really much in focus as the plot concerns an unattractive guy falling in love/lust with an unattractive girl. He lives in an apartment in NYC and become his new roommate. I've only just finished watching the movie and already I find it hard to talk about the plot because there pretty much isn't one. In short, "Red Cockroaches" is a zero budget sci-fi dystopian incest movie.

People have been making a lot of noise over the visuals in this film. What they actually added up to were a few futuristic aircraft tossed into shots of the city and a few badly staged shots of the mutated red cockroaches of the title. Special effects included the movie looked like crap. The fact that the film had no budget does not change the fact that the movie is ugly. I'll admit it looks a trifle better than a zero budget movie, but that's the same as saying the CG looks bad enough for an expensive movie of ten years earlier.

There is little to be said. The two leads are ugly and their characters behave in ugly ways. It isn't a profound tragedy and it doesn't really have any good dark humor. The "story"'s unpleasant resolution doesn't teach us anything new. Come to think of it I haven't been this hard up to say something nice about a movie since I saw Brian Yuzna's "Faust". Both are thorough-going cinematic sadism.

The DVD featured another short film from the director, Miguel Coyula. The short film is also poorly paced, unpleasant and pointless. Why this guy is making movies is beyond me. The package says this film is the winner of "20 film festival awards worldwide", which makes me wonder is that many film festivals give out a last place award. This whole review has sounded cruel and negative so I'll close on the same note and say I'd have been happier watching an Uwe Boll movie.

I loved this film. It was stunning, shocking and graceful in its visual garden of DV special effects. Not only did it keep my attention but it drove me to think out side of the box when thinking of a future genetic power world. The acting was strong and powerful and Coyula took obvious risk in many of scenes. It had a Clock Work Orange feel but was mixed with Star Wars type visuals. I had a chance to view the film at the 2004 MicroCinema Festival and it was by far the best thing on the screen during the 4 day event. Miguel Coyula is a film maker of the future and one should keep a close eye on and I expect great work from him in the future.

While certainly not for mainstream tastes, this feature debut by Miguel Coyula is outstanding from almost every point of view. Forget the $2000 budget. I really don't care when filmmakers say "Oh I had a very small budget, so please excuse the poor quality of my film" Not the case here. The filmmaker has created a strange menacing cinematic world saturated with lurid colours and moody soundtrack.

Of course, this alone wouldn't be enough to sustain a movie. The story deals with a convoluted case of incest. It is essentially a movie that manages to turn a disturbing story into a fascinating (and even erotic) study of the human psyche. The influence of David Lynch is obvious as it is full of moments of "high weirdness" but Coyula's vision and sensibilities are unique. I'm sure he'll make great films in the future (that is if he's not seduced by Hollywood).

A must see if you are into "strange" films. Many will leave the theatre wondering what the hell happened but I can assure you it wont leave you indifferent.

Red Cockroaches is a freakish, bizarre, avant-garde-ish science fiction/thriller about forbidden love and mutants. Yeah, it's odd, but it's incredibly captivating. The acting is exquisite, the directing divine, and the cinematography is absolutely splendid. The most interesting thing about it? It was shot on a budget of $0 as a labor of love from award winning Cuban filmmaker Miguel Coyula.

Miguel Coyula's film Red Cockroaches is something that is not for everyone, but for myself, it is one of the greatest surreal films I have seen to date. Besides the fact that the film is a tour de force of no-budget cinema, it is an involving and engrossing story that leaves more questions than answers for its audience when the ending credits stop rolling. The history of these characters is shrouded in mystery and dangerous secrets which makes the confrontations between each of them all the more memorable, adding to the drama and complexity of their relationships. Though there were parts I was completely confused on why they were in the film, these parts were far and few between. However, several of these instances were made clear and their place was justified after several viewings of the film. Red Cockroaches has a place of special attention on my shelf and Miguel's next film I am certain will even be greater than what I have just reviewed.