Rippy, originally known as The Red before a name change to play on our love for Skippy, is a terrifying tale of a rogue zombie roo.. (Yes kangaroo, let that sink in for a minute), that is terrorising the rural community of Axehead.
Maddie (Tess Haubrich) is the local police sergeant trying her best to make a name for herself amongst the townspeople while dealing with her own guilt over the death of her local hero father and the legacy he left behind. Before long Maddie needs to put her own insecurities aside as her community needs her, locals are being torn to shreds in gruesome attacks on the outskirts of town.
As the bodies begin to pile up fear takes hold in the once peaceful town with the locals demanding answers. After a short investigation and some subtle crazy ramblings from her Uncle Schmitty (Michael Biehn) a hulking kangaroo is found to be the culprit. A late night encounter later it is found there is something not right about this marsupial menace as it goes about wreaking havoc unable to be stopped.
Rippy takes place mostly at night, beautifully crafted to be its own character. The darkness helps to set the unsettling tone that is understandably such a big part of Rippy, anyone that has been to a country town anywhere in Australia immediately understands just how dark it gets and who knows what could be lurking just outside of your view.
The first half of the film is tasked with building tension relying on quick glimpses of Rippy while the score keeps you relatively invested in the tension building.
The second half of the film comes to life as the townsfolk go after Rippy but as we get to see more of the big dead red the more we realise the CGI budget was a relative shoestring. Rippy goes from looking menacing one moment pouncing on an unsuspecting passer by to a muddied mess the next, only rivaled by the local Halloween lawn ornament.
This is really a shame as the practical effects used for the close up gore are brilliantly done. Even when they stray a little too far into unsettling territory but if you’ve seen a previous Aussie horror you know what you’re in for.
Unfortunately, Rippy falls short on a few fronts by trying to be more than it ever needed too. Sticking to a horror/comedy genre may have given it more focus but it tries to play everything a little too serious. Moments that highlight the past trauma suffered by Maddie and Schmitty take up too much screen time and add very little to the story. There are also environmental sub plots that have been haphazardly added as a way to pad out the story all in the efforts of giving a zombie roo an origin story we don’t need.
With Australia’s long cinematic history of creature features Rippy on the surface looks to bring an unsettling experience that is delightfully absurd but once you get into it too many inconsistencies make a second viewing a tall order.
Brilliant performances from Tess Haubrich and Michael Biehn’s consistent scene stealing ability do little to elevate Rippy to possible cult status but time will tell.
