The slipcover to Red Flag Down, available now on blu-ray, is exactly why I got into reviewing physical media. It looks like some depraved, possibly illegal shit. It’s not, but I always get excited when I come across an oddity like this, especially when it turns out to be a fun little short film. But that cover looks like a screen grab from a poorly shot hostage video. I get a lot of strange movies sent to me, and I only have so many hours to watch all this stuff. But every now and then, a cover like this speaks to me and I have to check it out.
Red Flag Down was a homemade excuse to work with squibs, and it was distributed back in the early ‘90s in video stores. They made a few VHS copies and took them to video stores and hopefully people would check it out. And somehow it ended up on blu-ray. I’m glad it did.
The plot isn’t all that important, but if you must know it’s about a paintball business courting a reporter, hoping for a good article to drum up business. But it turns out two evil weirdos cosplaying as Blue Velvet characters have turned the paintball guns into real guns…or have they?
As I said, it doesn’t really matter. It’s all very silly and janky, but the squibs look pretty good. Most importantly, you can tell everyone involved had a great time making this. And if that wasn’t clear from the forty-ish minutes of storyline, then the final blooper / behind the scenes / credit sequence should hammer that home.
That final sequence saved the movie(?) for me. It seemed like a genuinely good time making this. And I’m glad I got a chance to check out this oddity.
Random Thoughts
After the FBI warning (which I was surprised to see), it asks you to “Keep your VCR running” after the movie for some behind-the-scenes footage.
The filmmakers are fans of Blue Velvet because those dudes at the beginning are giving off strong Dennis Hopper and Dean Stockwell vibes. And this is confirmed in the liner notes included with the blu-ray, as well, which also points out this is the filmmaking team of Chris Smith, and his father Chuck Smith.
And Chuck Smith is credited as “Dean Palance.” Chris is credited as “Jack Hopper.”
The main theme sounds like Carpenter. I mean, if you're going to be influenced, these are some good'uns.
Those squibs have to be painful. And they probably were, as the liner notes explain they were made with firecrackers.
Correction: according to one of the actors in the bloopers at the end he “didn't feel a thing.”
Correction to the correction: one actress did say it stung when a squib went off.
The back of the case claims the film is “Approx. 60 minutes” in one spot and “1 HR 2 MINS” in a different spot, and the actual running time is 52:39.
I love the PowerPoint-esque transitions between bloopers.