RED LETTER DAY - THE HALLOWEEN HORRORS COLLECTION

By Guest Reviewer The Creepy Concierge 

While adjusting to a new life in a quiet suburban community, a recently divorced mother (Dawn Van de Schoot) and her two teens receive mysterious red letters instructing them to kill or be killed.

Written and directed by Cameron Macgowan RED LETTER DAY (2019) trots along at probably the ideal pace for a film of its nature. We live in an age where the default position seems to be a, largely media fuelled, distrust of ‘the other’ and hitherto good neighbours who we once treated with casual politeness are now to be eyed with suspicion lest we discover they disagree with us. RED LETTER DAY takes this premise and runs with it, some might say to exploitative effect. But let’s face it the horror genre has never been particularly well known for its subtlety. The film sort of delivers on its intriguing headline grabbing premise. Playing out like a mini The Purge, without the production or marketing budget those films have to work with, it’s largely an entertaining if undemanding watch.  

Performances are what you might expect and the lack of originality in the character writing is somewhat made up for by the fact you might recognise some of the character ‘types’ from your own neighbourhood. Though whether you would ever consider dispatching them in one of the various and sundry ways on display here is another matter altogether. Cinematography is clean and efficient, as is the production design and the score. Nothing too egregious raises its head above the parapet to betray the low budget origins but a deluxe production RED LETTER DAY certainly is not.

There is some effective gore on display and the film does try very hard to rise above its low budget origins and, on occasion, manages to do so. But, in an age of so much choice on so many services, paid or otherwise, it doesn’t quite pull off the trick of truly distinguishing itself.

All of the above notwithstanding it’s still a fun watch and there is some vicarious pleasure in watching certain characters get their just desserts. One thing is for sure if you do give it a spin the next time you get a birthday card in a red envelope you might think twice about opening it.

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