Red Heat (1976) User Reviews

Boring Obscurity

[The_Void · 4/10 · 18 November 2007]

There are plenty of films like this out there, many of them aren't very good, and this one isn't very good either. To sum this film up in a nutshell; it's basically a voice over, a very thin plot and loads of sex scenes. There's really not a lot going on in this film, and the sex scenes aren't all that interesting either; which kind of made me wonder why I bothered watching it. The plot actually sounds quite interesting as it revolves around a mystery in Hollywood, but since the plot doesn't really figure; it's not very interesting. The sex scenes are, unfortunately, about as good as the rest of the film in that they're not very erotic. In fact, the sex scene quota mostly just consists of blow jobs and not much else. The film does have one saving grace; that being the fact that the running time is only just over an hour; any longer and Red Heat may have become torturous. This film may appeal to some fans of this sort of stuff - but it didn't do much at all for this one, and since it's completely obscure; I wouldn't recommend anyone bothers trying to track it down.

A Murderer in Vegas

[Michael_Elliott · 11 April 2014]

Red Heat (1975)

** (out of 4)

Porn film from Ray Dennis Steckler finds a female director in Las Vegas shooting some porn scenes while at the same time several men are being murdered by a red head. As I go through the work of Steckler I'm discovering that it's best to watch his film without expecting too much plot. I say that after nearly each new film of his I see and it holds true for this one. I'm going to guess that Steckler wanted to do something more than just film a bunch of sex scenes so he threw in this "mystery" but it's not a mystery because we know who the killer is from the start. The killer is showing murdering everyone so I'm really not sure what the point of these scenes were. The story is so slim that there's really not much going out so if the director wanted to do something different then it probably would have been best to leave the identity of the killer a secret. With that said, I must admit that I found some of the dialogue to be funny and especially during the opening scene where the female director talks about why one certain woman wanted to do porn. Obviously none of the performances are all that good but why would you expect them to be? The hardcore scenes really aren't anything that special but it seems the director is mainly worried about the money shot. I will add that the strangest thing about this film are the murders, which are pretty bloody. I bring this up because Steckler's own horror films don't contain this much blood so it's interesting that he pours it on here. The best thing about RED HEAT is getting to see 1975's Las Vegas, which includes some great billboards highlighting the performing talent but also a couple mentions of then recently released DEEP THROAT.

Singularly screwball mix of porn and horror by Ray Dennis Steckler

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 18 November 2014]

Boy, is this honey one seriously messed-up marvel of typically endearing ineptitude by the ever-wacky Ray Dennis Steckler. The confused jumble of a plot primarily focuses on a vicious psycho redhead who embarks on a murderous spree throughout Las Vegas after she catches her boyfriend with another woman. Meanwhile, a film crew shoots a hardcore movie while a thief on a motorcycle robs everyone he encounters. This being a Steckler flick, the meandering and disjointed narrative unfolds at a plodding pace, the dialogue is obviously dubbed in post-production with occasionally uproarious results (Steckler's wife Carolyn Brandt supplies the rambling narration that barely manages to hold the sloppy story together), and the ridiculously abrupt ending is simply priceless. Moreover, the sex scenes are shot in a pretty slick style, with neat use of strenuous slow motion for the shots of guys ejaculating. Better still, there's a wealth of fantastic footage of Las Vegas in all its gaudy 70's glory; the garish billboards advertising everyone from Tom Jones to Helen Reddy are absolutely spectacular. The slender ginger who plays Red Heat is a total hottie, too. Yep, this one's a complete train wreck, but it still manages to be oddly enjoyable just because it's so incredibly loopy and all-thumbs in that special Steckler way.