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Invoking much of the
grindhouse elements, director John Fallon's experimental short thriller
is something of a royal mind fuck, one that excels in being about
surreal as it possibly can while squeezing in nods to some classic films
during the duration of its story. Director Fallon goes against the
conventions of formula storytelling with "The Red Hours" a movie
constantly blurring the realms of fantasy and reality when a club goer
on a night out takes some hallucinogens to spite an ex he sees across
the club canoodling with a girlfriend of hers.
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With a
mixture of anger and bonafide chemicals, the young man has a
full on orgy of violent and extreme visions involving gun
fights, blood soaked corpses, dangerous gun wielding
females, axe wielding lesbians, and the like, all of which
is never quite what it seems until the very end. Fallon's
film while not perfect is quite visually stunning and for
the most part contains a wicked visual appeal toward it that
garners some memorable scenes including some fast paced
chase sequences, and stunning sweeping pans on our sexy
actresses, all of whom are empowered more by Fallon's
fetishistic visual flourishes and camera angles than their
uniforms and hand held weapons. |
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Mostly an
experimental film, "The Red Hours" is a drug trip of the highest
proportion and one most dangerous in the mind of a jilted ex
refusing to cope with his ex-girlfriend's new sexual preference and
the inevitable aftermath of a drug binge. Fallon is a sharp eyed
independent director, and I appreciated the technical aspect behind
"The Red Hours" in the end.
In spite of John
Fallon's sharp eye, the performances by both of the actresses leave
very much to be desired with often stilted line delivery, and wooden
performances that distract from the film immensely and never match
the swagger and style Fallon strives for from minute one.
While not perfect with
stiff performances from the female cast, "The Red Hours" is an admirable
experimental short with a great visual flair, an interesting premise,
and a sweet sense of style.
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