Review

Mary Ann has nightmares where she is in danger from the "Red King", a sort of demonic faery tale creature. Adding to her problems is the death of her father which propels Mary Ann back home to find her mother has a few Roos loose in the top paddock. The family mansion is a decaying gothic structure, and her once staunchly religious mother appears to be engaged in black magic, considering this is a horror movie that's got to be a bad development.

Following an uneasy arrival Mary Ann is attacked by her mother, who forces her to drink something that looks vile, and which knocks her out quicker than Dan can go down during the first hour of the Cabana's free tequila shots evening. Don't try those at home kids we're professionals. Anyway Mary Ann awakes to discover she has somehow been transported to the Red King's fiefdom, and the King isn't the sociable type. Escaping through a small door, Mary Ann finds a guide in Alice, a small girl wearing of all things a Cheshire cat mask. There are secrets to be discovered, memories to be revisited, and the unnerving question of just who's dream this is. Can Mary Ann decipher the clues before things go real pear shape?

Navin Dev owes me, he owes me big time, and the next time I'm in the Isle of Mists I expect reparation in the form of my own body weight in beer! Let me explain friends and neighbours. I had a particular outrageous Friday evening, no you don't need to know the details, put in some hard physical labour Saturday morning, and needed a power nap in the afternoon in order to be a fully functioning unit for that evening. Naturally, given the noise during the day around our place, I stuck on a DVD, which besides drowning out the background hum, generally sends me to the land of nod without any issues, regardless of how good the actual movie is. I can fall asleep during Alien or The Exorcist folks, it's like my x-power or something. So I put on Red Kingdom Rising, safe in the knowledge that I would be soon sleeping the sleep of the just. A couple of hours later I'm still wide awake phoning people, and telling them they have to catch a screening of Navin Dev's debut feature. One shortened Saturday followed, I missed Belguim beer night at the lounge folks, Navin Dev has crimes against humanity to pay for!

There's any number of things working for Red Kingdom Rising and very little working against it. Perhaps the only real criticism I would aim at the movie was that it needed another half an hour or so of build-up prior to Mary Ann heading home. We don't get enough of the good oil on our girl's psychological issues or any feeling that she may have issues returning home. I would have also upped the ante on the religious elements her Mom has happening, without giving too much away that aspect needed to be hung, drawn, and quartered to effectively convey the deterioration Mom has going down when Mary Ann encounters her at the family pile.

Navin Dev is coming at you with a movie that is going to knock you into next Sunday

Once Mary Ann is forced to drink the elixir of nightmare inducing hallucinations we get to the crux of Red Kingdom Rising, though Dev isn't going to spell out exactly what's going down, he respects his audience and leaves them to determine just how things interlocked. We're sort of thrust into a Lewis Carroll Through the Looking Glass surreal nightmare with the demonic figure of the Red King holding sway. Mary Ann deduces she is in some sort of dream state, but the question is just who's dream is she in. With very little in terms of budget Dev gets his nightmare happening, with the sort of twists and turns you would expect from say a Brad Anderson outing. Considering we only have three focal characters, Mary Ann, the Red King, and Alice, there's a whole lot happening in Red Kingdom Rising that threatens at stages to twist itself into knots. It doesn't, the screenplay is tight enough to weave between the twists and loops of the plot without losing the audience along the way.

To a certain extent the movie resolves down to Mary Ann facing her own demons and bringing into the light just what her nightmares have been about. Pretty freaky treatment if you ask me, but hey I don't have a degree in psychology, the horror vibe is layered on to such an extent that younger viewers may find this movie pretty much unwatchable. Surprisingly, given the modern Boredwood movements, we do not get drenched in blood or crescendos of noise announcing a scare scene coming up. Director Dev allows his movie to speak to itself, and that voice is presented in a pretty rich timbre. Possibly some viewers may find the ending of the movie slightly on the sudden side of the door, but you need to get out of this one in some sort of shape.

Emily Stride (Mary Ann) simply owns this movie and dominates every scene she appears in, which is just as well as Red Kingdom Rising is solely dependent on the Audience getting behind Stride's character and going along with her journey of discovery. I would really like to check Stride out in a gothic ghost story, I reckon she would rock the house down, a name to take note of as we'll be grooving to her work in the future I'm sure. Backing up Stride is Etalia Turnball (Alice) who shows a maturity well beyond her young years. The role isn't exactly easy, but Turnball hits it with English resolve, that should have you high fiving the stranger in the seat next to you.

Silvana Maimone (Mom) simply goes as mad as a cut snake and is actually pretty damn freaky in both her personas. Not giving away spoilers here kids, watch the movie to work out what that's all about. While the role isn't overly taxing, Maimone delivers on all fronts. And finally David Caron (various, not saying a word), appears simple in one guise and threatening, in a sort of demented Freddie Krueger way, in another. Surprisingly Caron isn't called upon to do much, but hits the cues like a pro, as Dev goes off camera for the crucial unveiling of just what the movie is about.

Navin Dev gets the best out of his cast as he puts them through the emotional wringer and delivers on some classic horror scenes. Not giving anything away here, catch the movie for some reassuringly awesome horror tropes, you are going to need those as this movie goes heavy as you struggle to work out just what you are watching.

Way over the word limit here, sorry for the ramble kids, but this is one movie you are not going to want to miss. Wrapping up folks, not long to go, then we can all get some sleep.

There are a number of sub-genres in the dark end of the cinematic woods that I'm a sucker for. Think I've mentioned before haunted houses and demonic possession. Add into that mix psychological thrillers, hey if you've sat through Session 9 or Se7en then you will know exactly why this stuff rocks. With Red Kingdom Rising Director Navin Dev adds a worthy inclusion into the ranks of the top draw psychological outings. No matter how you come at this movie, it's going to delivery on your requirements, hence two thumbs up, full recommendation, knock yourself out kids. Does Britain have another rising horror Director who writes his own scripts? Time will tell, but pencil in the name you'll be hearing a lot more from this young film maker.

Sorry I have no idea if the movie is available currently, I got access to a screener via legit channels, and no we don't on send them to anyone outside our team, so don't even bother asking, support your film industry. Fingers crossed this movie gets decent distribution, it certainly deserves to be seen by a wide audience. In the meantime enjoy the trailer below, or check out the website for additional information and news.