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Griezz
Reviews
Return in Red (2007)
Hardly worth the viewing
While the general theme of secret experiments conducted on the public may seem appealing to some viewers, "Return in Red" hardly seems to do the idea any credit.
I am not going to argue that the acting or cinematography was sub-par; you don't really need name actors or a million dollar budget do create a great film. However, one thing is essential is a plot that is logical, reasonable and understandable.
There were a few good aspects of the film. The dreariness of the film's visual style blended nicely with the constant sound of the wind in exterior scenes; together, they nicely enhance the feeling of isolation leading to helplessness. However, a film must be about more than setting.
Good films have dialogue; even the old silent films still had character interactions and a plot that you could follow. Sadly, this film often neglected both. Too many scenes had little more than people quietly walking around. There is little about the relationships between people that seem hard pressed to display anything more than wooden sullenness.
Even the supposed theme of government experiments is highly questionable. You never see anything of the experimenters except for a van, some piece of electrical hardware, and a black-clothed gloved arm that grabs people. You never see or hear anything about motivation, except for someone calling-in to a radio talk show at the film's end with a claim about government experiments. While it might be what happened, there is nothing here that justifies that.
There are too many unexplained events as well. One character has a dream that foreshadows events, but is never explained. Is she supposed to be psychic or was it some amazing coincidence? The two people at the end supposed to be immune to the experiment's effects? Nothing is explained.
Given the lack of information, the lack of character dialogue, and the lack of reasonable explanations of motives, I'd have to say that this film generally also lacks any value.