Quite often I am asked by indie filmmakers what exactly I am looking for when I watch one of their films. I can tell you that, in all honesty, the one thing that will make your movie stand out above all else is to put your heart in it. No matter how much money you have if you can put your heart in the film every single penny of your budget will be seen on screen. If you believe in your film then the cast will follow and you just have to have fun while you are doing it. Red Victoria is one of those films. It is very obvious that Anthony Brownrigg made this film from the heart. Not only did he write, produce, and direct but he also did just about everything else on the film. A true jack of all trades.

Brownrigg plays Jim, an uptight, snobby, holier than though, writer who has been trying to sell all of his scripts to no avail. His agent lets him now that horror is hot and that he needs a horror script from Jim or he may have to stop being his agent. Reluctantly Jim decides that he really needs to pay the bills, so he decides to write a dreadful horror script. Jim however knows absolutely nothing about horror. One night in a drunken stupor he cites a line from Macbeth that brings him a sexy undead  homicidal muse, Victoria. Sexy and undead? Yea.. it can happen.

Jim has also enlisted the help of his horror loving buddy, Carl. A guy who knows everything about horror films. Victoria has a very unique way of showing Jim what horror is all about. Well unique in that she murders anyone who gets into the way of Jim writing his next big screenplay. Will Jim ever finish his script? How do Carl and Victoria get a long?

This is a flick that really defies definition. I can't really call it a straight up horror or just comedy. It's not even truly just a horror/comedy either. It somehow manages to play with all of your emotions all seemingly effortlessly. Red Victoria is really a flick that I'm not really sure how the hell Brownrigg pulled it off. He managed and had a hand in every single thing that went on with the film. But it may be that control that made this film so good. His true vision that he wanted is what you are going to get. His only downfall in this film was without a doubt his own budget.

The cast was really strong with of course Brownrigg as the lead. Arianne Martin did a terrific job of being able to play so many different roles that Victoria takes on. She is serious, sexy, clueless and deadly all within different points of the film. To take on a character like Victoria and pull it off like Martin did had to have taken a lot of preparation or just raw talent. Edward Landers as Jim's horror buddy Carl reminds me of a lot of fans that I see when I attend horror conventions. He really embodied the character well and I wouldn't be surprised if he was a big horror fan himself.

Usually I don't point out to many small details but something that I really loved about this film was production value. It was all the little things that Brownrigg did that makes this film look like a million dollar flick. The title sequence was one of those things that came up and really shocked me. It was extremely well done and quite simply bad ass. The music was also very effective and something that helped put this film into the top tier of indie films that I have seen.

Now I know up to this point I have talked about all the practical stuff. Well gore hounds don't worry you get what you are looking for as well. Plenty of kills and gore are here for your enjoyment. Surprisingly however the best stuff in the film for me was done with CGI! Yes, Brownrigg once again had his hands on the CGI and I kid you not when I say it looked better than some big budget films I have seen.

Of course all films have flaws, it just comes down to how well are they hidden. In Red Victoria's case they are hidden very well. Now if I were to do anything differently with this film I may have done something differently with her make-up. It was a little inconsistent throughout. There is a couple of unanswered questions that occur at the end of the film.

Red Victoria is easily one of the best indie flicks I have seen in quite some time. A fantastic script, great acting, a sexy homicidal spirit.. what else could you ask for? If you didn't believe me when I said indie film is going to take over, Red Victoria will convince you of that.

- Luke Franklin