Rippy

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.

Where do I begin with this dreadfull pos?

Don't expect a comedy here. The movie takes itself seriously and the only laughs to be had are dumb plot scenes, oh and the God awful CGI that looks fresh out of 1997.

The plot should just be there is a giant killer kangaroo on the loose killing humans. So they fight back. That's all that should be needed. Instead it forces you to watch a pointless plot of the local cop whose father died and he was the towns hero zzzzzz. His daughter (the cop) is always going on about trying to live up to his legacy, or some stupid pointless thing, it bored me to death so much I just stopped paying it any attention and I dont know or care what the stupid outcome of it was in the end, because it was utterly pointless.

I heard toilets flushing when multiple times this cop ignores the peril dangers and just stops to worry about her dead father rather than the danger their in. Who wrote this (what gets flushed)?

Then there's the killer kangaroo in all its horrible CGI glory. What's even worse is this kangaroo changes size in every shot. One moment it looks average, then it's 8 feet tall, then back to 5. Whoever did the CGI is no professional, and I've seen amatuers do 1000 times better work on personal YouTube videos.

Mix all that in with side characters all muttering about things trying to make you feel for their past or something, and you've got a cocktail for the worst film out of Australia in years.

It'd have been better to use quick cuts, shadows, and off screen imagination with a couple of puppet close ups rather than try to sell this CGI disaster amongst pointless, and I mean POINTLESS dialogue between miserable characters and it's dumb plots.

The horror aspect falls completely flat. Never any sense of danger, nothing gripping, and not even any cool or memorable kill scenes. One moment a killer kangaroos after them, then they're casually walking home, then they're fearing the roo might be outside.... MAKE UP YOUR MIND writers.

My biggest question is how did they get Kyle Reese into this film, and why did he agree to be in it? I bet he regrets agreeing to it now.

I can't think of any reason to ever suggest to someone to check this film out. It's not even one of those 'it's so bad' ones. It just has NOTHING to offer, no redeemable qualities and I wouldn't even waste film students time saying this is a movie to watch as an example of how not to make a movie. It's just not worth anyone's attention in any way, shape, or form. It's just pathetic. Don't bother with it.

To think I spent $11.20 on my Uber trip on All Hallows Eve to get to Limelight Cinemas just to support the Australian film industry by watching "The Red" also known stateside as "Rippy".

It was more laughs and for all the wrong reasons than horror I experienced during this almost 90 minutes screening.

The facts is some third world countries are making better horror movies than the so-called lucky country, Australia, in 2024.

Russell Mulchays' "Razorback" was a better monster horror movie and it was made 40 bloody years ago before CGI.

No, this movie relied on puppeteers in a Roo costume to scare us...what a joke!

No ones going to have a moviegasm watching "Rippy" the darn big bush kangaroo chomp his way through the imaginary mining township of Axehead.

One of the filmmakers biggest mistakes was revealing the zombie marsupial only seconds into the movie.

Clearly the word suspense isn't in their Funk & Wagnalls.

Made on a paltry 7.5 million dollar budget (costume budget for Olivia Rodrigo's World Tour) it showed.

Just like "Razorback" we had to hire an American for one of the lead roles to sell this OS.

Michael Biehn ("Aliens") as "Schmitty" is supposed to be a broken down Vietnam veteran, even though my math has him as 15 years of age in 1971 as he recounts his war stories.

"Rippy" had the chance to be scary and humorous, but under first time feature film director Ryan Coonan, failed on both counts.

Even though it's based on a short he created called, "Waterborne".

This treatment needed a few more drafts before being green lit.

"The Red" or as the Germans say whilst eating sauerkraut "Das Killerkangaru" was filmed in Queensland: around Brisbane, Cracow and Old Petrie Town.

At least these towns might benefit from the handful of film location tourists who follow this stuff.

"The Red" also lacked a killer soundtrack, which I might just make a Spotify playlist for, because I can...full of Aussie bangers (code for hits).

Zombie Roo "Rippy" was no ordinary bush kangaroo and when Rippy goes "Rogue" (another better Aussie horror flick) all hell breaks loose and you don't want to be a runner or a drunk miner after dark.

The trailer contains the best 2 minutes of this horror flick.

The towns cop gives birth to a genius plan in the final showdown, "I'm gonna blow the fu&@ers brains out!" Why that would work when guns and bullets have been useless till now amused me.

Wouldn't you be better to use an old axe hanging in the Fire &Axe pub?

The working title for "The Red" was "Zombieroo" according to Biehn, but that doesn't make it any better because this movie takes itself way too seriously and misses the campy horror cult flick it could have become.

Instead it's relegated to the skinny decaf cappuccino or why bother basket.

It's not even a "so bad it's good film".

Continuity is a disaster, the script blows chunks and First Nations actor Aaron Pedersen couldn't save it.

My love of Zombie movies is prolific, but this was a missed opportunity.

Shame because I was rooting for another great Australian camp fire story for future generations to enjoy too!

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.

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!