About.com Rating

Some of the most exploitive movies ever committed to film are revenge flicks -- witness The Last House on the Left or I Spit on Your Grave -- but Red is an altogether different animal. It's "anti-exploitation," a subtle, dramatic tale of revenge focused on emotional bonds, social dynamics and the acute repercussions of a legacy of rage.

The Plot

Avery "Av" Ludlow (Brian Cox) is a retired Korean War veteran with a tragic past that has cost him both his wife and his two sons.

The only things he has left in the world are his farmhouse, the general store he owns and his 14-year-old dog, Red, a gift from his late wife. In the blink of an eye, however, one of those things is violently taken from him.

Three mischievous teens out hunting in the woods callously shoot and kill Red while trying to rob Av. After burying his best friend, Av uses his knowledge of firearms, some deductive reasoning and a bit of small-town charm to find out who the culprits are. The ringleader is Danny McCormack (Noel Fisher), a hot-tempered Aryan poster child from a "new money" family with some unscrupulous ties. His brother, Harold (Kyle Gallner), is a good kid who tries to be the peacemaker during the robbery but is bullied into complying. The third kid is Pete Doust (Shiloh Fernandez), a poor kid from the wrong part of town who's hesitant to shoot the dog but laughs about it afterwards.

Av visits the McCormack home to speak to the father (Tom Sizemore), but he dismisses Av's complaint when Danny denies even being at the scene.

Mr. McCormack hides behind a wall of money and power, challenging Av to sue him. Av, of course, can't hire a big-time attorney, and despite the aid of local TV news reporter Carrie Donnel (Kim Dickens), the district attorney -- presumably in McCormack's pocket -- refuses to prosecute. It seems that animals are treated by the law as property anyway, and killing one would likely result in only a $100 fine and little or no jail time. Av hits a similar dead end with Pete's parents (Robert Englund and Amanda Plummer).

Av wants little more than an apology, but with nowhere left to turn, he resorts to more confrontational methods, and what was once a battle of wills turns into an all-out physical war, with casualties on both sides.

The End Product

Red knows what emotional buttons to push, and it pushes them all -- animal cruelty, punk kids with irresponsible parents and no respect for life, a corrupt justice system taking advantage of a military veteran -- but rarely in a way that feels manipulative. In lesser hands, the people could come off as caricatures, but writer Stephen Susco (using material from the Jack Ketchum book) and directors Trygve Allister Diesen and Lucky McKee combine with a wonderful cast to give them depth.

The characterizations are rich, with a keen eye for human nature -- particularly that of Av and his nemesis, Danny. For much of the movie, Av isn't angry so much as sad and dismayed, seeking to make sense of the senseless. Having lost his own sons, he has insight into adolescent behavior and tragedy. Cox portrays him with a gentlemanly charm, even in the toughest of circumstances. Fisher, meanwhile, is utterly believable as Danny, a reprehensible character who's frighteningly realistic. More than just a spoiled brat, he's at heart an insecure boy with a low sense of self-worth who shoots the dog as an act of power and control. (It's hinted that his father abuses his mother, so the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.) He can push around his passive brother, and he's looked up to by his working-class friend Pete, exploiting the same economic disparity that his father does to get his way.

Although Ketchum is a horror author with a reputation for the dark and disturbing (see the hard-to-stomach film adaptation of The Girl Next Door), Red is not a horror movie and could make a case for being as much a drama as a suspense thriller. Don't let the "D" word fool you, though; it's never dull and jumps right into the action from the opening scenes. Regardless of the genre, it's an unusually thought-provoking film that falls in line with Ketchum's penchant for horror stories involving realistic crimes. (Read: Red doesn't come back from the dead for revenge.)

The only real let-down in the film is the ending. I haven't read the book, so I don't know how faithful the movie is (although I've heard some people complain about the ending in the book as well), but as the tension mounted and the stakes inched higher and higher, the darkest possible scenarios built up in my mind. Of course, the actual outcome didn't come close to my imagined level of carnage, but on the other hand, it wasn't a total cop-out either. It just felt too tidy and, well...safe -- something you don't expect from Ketchum. (And the very last scene in particular is as close to manipulative as the film gets.) For a revenge flick, the revenge itself isn't terribly satisfying -- although you could argue that that's the true nature of revenge.