30th Oct2024

‘Rippy’ Review

by Jim Morazzini

Stars: Tess Haubrich, Michael Biehn, Nathan Jones, Angie Milliken | Written by Ryan Coonan, Richard Barcaricchio | Directed by Ryan Coonan

Rippy, originally entitled The Red before getting retitled to riff on the old kid’s show Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, is the latest creature feature from down under. As if Australia didn’t already have enough critters that will kill you, director Ryan Coonan (Skeletons, Numurkah) and co-writer Richard Barcaricchio have expanded their 2014 short Waterborne and turned a giant kangaroo into a flesh hungry zombie.

Maddy (Tess Haubrich; Nekrotronic, Bleeding Steel) is the sheriff of the small outback town of Axehead. It’s a job her war hero father held before he died saving her life. She feels the pressure of living up to his reputation, and days like this don’t help.

First her Uncle Schmitty (Michael Biehn; Aliens, The Lockdown) comes into town claiming he was attacked by a giant kangaroo that shrugged off his bullets. Then the two drunks whose keys she took are torn to pieces while walking back to the mine. They won’t be the last to die.

While you might be expecting a premise like this to be played, at least in part, for laughs, Coonan and Barcaricchio play it quite straight with a Jaws-like first half that relies on brief glimpses of the creature, or parts of it, as it stalks anyone unlucky enough to be in the forest at night. There are also subplots about PTSD, Schmiitty is a Vietnam vet with obvious mental issues, and pollution, chemicals from the local mine are responsible for sending the roo on its rampage.

We also see familiar plot points, like a miner with a violent past, actor and professional wrestler Nathan Jones (Mad Max: Fury Road, Mortal Kombat) in a cameo appearance, who is initially blamed. And Maddy’s aunt, and Schmitty’s ex, Donna (Angie Milliken; The Condemned, MDA) finally facing up to what split them up during a lull in the action.

It’s not until the film’s second half, when most of the main and supporting cast go hunting for Rippy that the film really comes to life, so to speak. Then we see the creature on the attack, ripping chunks out of its victims, running vehicles off the road and smashing its way into the local pub. And while I thought it would have been better if the film had embraced this sort of approach from the start, it quickly becomes obvious why it didn’t.

While the film’s practical gore effects are sufficiently gruesome and convincing, the effects for the film’s title creature is another matter. In some scenes, an animatronic puppet was used, and it works fairly well as long as it’s kept in relative darkness. But the scenes of the creature in motion are the kind of unconvincing CGI that makes it obvious why they kept Rippy in the shadows and rely on Chris Bland’s (Scare Package II: Rad Chad’s Revenge, Deadhouse Dark) cinematography for scares and suspense.

The cast do well in their roles, Biehn manages to show his character’s issues without going over the top. He and Milliken also do well in their scenes together, whether hunting the beast or hashing out their feelings. And the two of them, along with Haubrich do well in the scenes where she has to face up to the truth about her father.

While it doesn’t live up to its potential, Rippy isn’t boring and would be a painless way to kill some time. It’s just too bad we didn’t get the scene I was hoping for, Nathan Jones following up his fight with Boar’s giant pig by boxing a giant kangaroo. Given the film’s ending, we may get to see it in the sequel, however.

**½  2.5/5

Capelight Pictures have released Rippy to select US theatres as well as VOD and Digital Platforms. It will be available on Blu-ray and DVD on December 3rd.
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Review originally posted on Voices From the Balcony

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