STORYLINE: Queer screenwriter Allina Green is hired to write the final Red Mask slasher. Under pressure and facing death threats, she and her fiancé retreat to a secluded Airbnb. A twisted game spirals into a deadly fight when uninvited guests crash. (IMDb)

      There is a fine line in home invasion films. If they go to far, they cross into torture porn, like films in The Strangers franchise.  There are others in the horror sub genre that are truly frightening, such as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974).  They can feature unique characters, such as the lead in 2011’s You’re Next.  The recent independent horror feature film, The Red Mask, joins the ranks of home invasion movies.  

   While The Red Mask is a home invasion horror movie, it avoids the graphic violence that tends to plague the sub genre. The movie portrays its violence more in a campy way.  With in its story it discusses the rules of the genre, references a few other films in the process, and sticks those rules. In an almost self mocking way, The Red Mask, references these moments throughout the story. Scream (1996) and its subsequent sequels followed a similar pattern.

    The movie explores a theme of individual artistic expression.  It does so in the context of the struggle the central character faces, as she writes a remake of a widely popular home invasion film. The debate inside her is about giving the audience what they want in the remake, versus putting her own unique stamp on the film.   Through this debate, The Red Mask, explores how audiences have changed over the years, and how it is important to reflect that in cinema franchises.  Personally, I think it was an important topic to explore.

   The Red Mask was a home invasion film done with a bit of camping to it.

   Until next time, I will see you at the movies!

This past weekend, I attended the annual Nevermore Film Festival.  It is a festival dedicated to showing new, independent horror features. I’ve selected five films that I saw to blog about. This is the final of those five films. The five films are:

THEATER IS DEAD

THE MID-NIGHT DRIVER

PARANORMAL INVESTIGATIONS 

DEAD MEDIA

THE RED MASK