Watch your backs, Tim Burton, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino! Alex Ferrari’s amazing Red Princess Blues has crashed your party and stolen the limelight. With a budget under $10,000 and a shooting schedule of only two days, this eleven-minute thriller boasts explosive action, first-rate production values, intriguing visuals and a fairy tale-like story that grabs us immediately, then never lets go until the villain gets his comeuppance.

And what a villain! Richard Tyson (Black Hawk Down) oozes sleaze as Rimo, an obnoxious carney who lures lovely teenager Zoe (Tabitha Morella) into an after-hours tent at Roscoe’s Carnival and Freak Show. While watching Rimo trying to seduce Zoe, I wanted a shower in the worst way. Tyson endows this creep with such evil, one can almost smell his lecherous essence.

SPOILER ALERT

Luckily, a mysterious hooded figure at the bar realizes what’s going on. It’s none other than Princess (Rachel Grant), star of a new carnival attraction, who saves the day with her incredible knife-throwing skill and abundant fighting techniques. Princess is great fun to watch – so we definitely want to know what else she can do and who else she will save from the clutches of Rimo or other similar slimy blokes. 

I continue to admire Ferrari’s filmmaking skill. Broken, his previous short movie, is one of my favorites. Happily, Red Princess Blues emerges as another example of his unique cinematic style. The way Ferrari combines visual effects with sharp storytelling is truly impressive.                 

Ferrari says that Red Princess Blues, expertly narrated by Robert Forster (Jackie Brown) as The Storyteller, is based on his feature screenplay of the same name. “I hope to be able to garner enough attention with the short to get the feature film version made,” he explains.

More power to him!

For additional information about Red Princess Blues, please go to www.redprincessblues.com.

And watch the trailer by clicking on the link below.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0EO0L3Vn5w.

(Production companies include The Enigma Factory, Intenzo Films and Signature Entertainment; not rated by MPAA.)