The Red Mask
Screens Friday, October 17 at 4pm
by Daniel Baldwin
Attempting to reinvent a film franchise can be an incredibly tricky thing. If things change too much, filmmakers risk incensing fans and making audiences wonder why the new project even bears the same name as the original. If not enough is changed, subsections of fandom might be happy, but everyone else will still be left thinking, “What’s the point?”
That’s the fine line to be walked as a creator when tackling a pre-existing thing, especially when it comes to horror. There’s also a quiet truth: you’re never going to please everyone with your reinvention. Just ask folks like David Gordon Green, Nia DaCosta, Fede Alvarez, and filmmaking team Radio Silence. All tackled recent renewals of long-running slasher series to varying degrees of success, both of the critical and commercial variety. Fans still argue about all of them today and they will continue to do so for decades to come. For better or worse, franchises inspire passion in their fanbases. Sometimes that passion is born of love and acceptance. Other times, it is overflowing with hatred and malice.
This is the core subject of Ritesh Gupta’s satirical slasher, The Red Mask. Together with screenwriters Samantha Gurash and Patrick Robert Young, Gupta has crafted a fiercely critical look at both sides of the coin when it comes to a slasher series being redone for a new generation. The terror tale begins with acclaimed indie screenwriter Allina Green (Helena Howard) kicking off a stay at a secluded cabin with her fiancé, Deetz (Inanna Sarkis). The goal? To write a killer script for a reboot of popular fictional slasher series, The Red Mask.
Things take a turn when Allina & Deetz’s brainstorming sessions are interrupted when a couple (Jake Abel & Kelli Garner) with a clashing Airbnb reservation arrive at the cabin. Also – wouldn’t you know it? – they happen to be big fans of The Red Mask films who have their own very different thoughts on how their beloved saga should be revived. The stage is now set for a battle (both verbal and physical) between filmmakers and fans over the soul of an intellectual property.
It’s the kind of thing one only ever sees play out in comments sections and social media posts, but instead of ALL CAPS WARFARE, the fight becomes decidedly more literal in the hands of Gupta & Co. What results is a very savvy and fun piece of horror filmmaking that is sure to thrill you and make you chuckle in equal measure. Keep an eye out for this one, horror fans. It’s a really good time.
