Red Nights (2010) User Reviews

Not for everyone, but memorable

[Joe-146 · 5/10 · 19 November 2012]

I don't believe I'm spoiling anything by saying the violence in this film is extremely graphic.

I'm very ambivalent about this film. It is very ambitious, and technically exquisite. The sound and visuals are stunning, and it is a rich dish for the senses. That said, there is a fair amount of extremely graphic violence, which, while I marveled at the technical skill of the filmmakers at creating these images, I found them quite over the top for my tastes. This is an individual taste issue. If you thought "Silence of the Lambs" had too much Hannibal & Clarise and not enough Buffalo Bill, then maybe you would enjoy Red Nights more.

I had no trouble following the plot, but I wonder if another rewrite or two may have smoothed the overall story a bit. In some ways, it seemed like rather disjointed scenes from a bigger story. The end of the film, seemed more like the end of a scene. I didn't get any sense of the story being wrapped up. It could have just as easily continued, yet did not have any kind of dangling end that hinted at a sequel. It just seemed that the filmmakers shot as much of the story as they wanted to and stopped.

Maybe I totally missed the point of the film. I found it a rich audiovisual experience, but never really got wrapped up in the narrative. That said, the cast is superb and completely inhabited their characters.

If you don't have an problem with the graphic violence, you may enjoy the cinematic experience of this film. It's likely you have not seen anything quite like it. But if you're looking for a captivating story line, you may go away somewhat restless.

I notice the film was shot - appropriately enough - with a RED camera. If not for the nature of some of the images, it would make an excellent technical demo.

Had potential but let down by uneven, clumsy plot

[grantss · 4/10 · 9 April 2021]

A woman steals an ancient artefact and flees to Hong Kong in order to sell it. Little does she know that the box contains a vial of poison, a poison that paralyses its victim but heightens their senses of pleasure and pain. The people she is dealing with will go to any lengths to obtain the poison.

This film had potential: an intriguing start, the mysterious woman after the poison, the tough, resourceful thief assailed on all sides, the dark tone of the film, the good production values. Yet, for all this its more miss than hit.

The main problem is the plot: it's clumsy, with some contrived, silly developments. Just because the film falls in the horror category doesn't mean you have to fall back on horror clichés. Even worse, the pacing is all over the place. Some incredibly intense scenes that move at a great pace in among some scenes that are incredibly slow and empty, padding the movie. This all leads to a start-stop sort of journey.

The ending is a bit weak too.

Overall: disappointing.

Not very good

[philman200001 · 4/10 · 17 November 2010]

I just got back from this film, as it was screening at the Stockholm Film Festival. Going into it I had no idea what to expect, and the first 20 minutes of the film are not bad, and even give the illusion that the film might be about something or involve an unraveling mystery of some sort with suspense and layers and that sort of thing, you know, content. Nope. The movie is just about a box from ancient times containing an ancient poison, and everyone wants this (can't imagine why) and is ready to tear each other to pieces over it. The film climaxes with an excessively gory torture scene that goes on for a very long time. Absolutely nothing here, if I could go back in time I'd give it a miss and select a movie with content.

On the bright side . . . the movie looks very good. It is well shot.

Stylishly made exercise in pointless sadistic violence

[gridoon2024 · 3/10 · 1 June 2014]

When I finished watching "Red Nights", I did something that I very rarely (maybe once a year, if that) do: I threw the DVD in the trash can. I just did not want to have this movie as part of my collection anymore. It is made with a certain sense of style, the performances are competent, the culture mix (France - Hong Kong) is intriguing and at first the film appears to be creatively kinky. But as it goes on you're beginning to realize that there is really no plot and no point here - it's just an exercise in cruel, sadomasochistic violence. Characters to whom you've invested viewing time get unceremoniously dispatched for nothing more than shock value, and the film devolves into a cat-and-mouse game about the survival of the sickest. For torture porn fans only. * out of 4.

Sexy, Stylish, and Sadomasochistic.

[meddlecore · 6/10 · 4 October 2014]

Red Nights is a mysterious tale of death, seduction and sadomasochistic torture, oriented around the contents of an antique box which contains an ancient skull-vial that is filled with a powerfully intoxicating poison. Death seems to follow those who possess it...

Thematically, it's about the pleasure in pain...and the whole film has a sexual aura that manages to make the brutally atrocious acts contained within it, erotically alluring...in a De Sadian sense.

In the first part of the film there are two femme fatales who are at odds with one another.

On the one hand we have Catherine- a blonde, French woman- who is on the lamb in Hong Kong, after having killed the man who extorted the box from the man she is trying to get it back for; and the only one who is able to survive her original spate with death following her initial contact with the artifact.

On the other hand, there is Jade, who is the only one who can harness the dark powers possessed by the contents of the box. Her fate even seems to revolve around it, as if she was the one it was meant for. She seems to be something along the lines of a demonic reincarnation of whatever evil presence was the original owner of the ancient poison- which renders it's victims paralytically incapacitated, whilst remaining conscious and aware, as their sensitivity to both pleasure and pain is heightened. She is a downright vicious seductress who wields an intriguing jade claw and thrives on the pleasure derived from pain...of others.

Jade and her beloved believe they are living out a legendary curse. One that is reflected in the storyline of a stage play interwoven throughout the film. This drives the plot, which slowly reveals itself like layers shed from an onion.

The film has tons of great, realistically gory, special effects (though the blood does seem to look a little painty in parts), and culminates with an eerie tension driven battle sequence.

It's always comforting to know that sometimes evil prevails...

When all is said and done, Red Nights is a sexy, dark, and mysterious cult film, whose sadomasochistic gore will definitely win over the horror fan in you. It has a great blend of tension, subtle humour, and stylish deviance that make it one hell of an attention grabber. You should definitely check it out. Highly recommended.

6.5 out of 10

Seriously Bad

[frunue · 2/10 · 30 January 2022]

This movie was so bad it could have been a comedy. The acting was so wooden and the plot, so ridiculous and weak.

I thought I was watching a very poor tv series from the 1960's.

Recommend fast forwarding this movie to stay awake

[109YearsOld · 2/10 · 3 April 2022]

There is a legend of directors who created a movie which brought laughter to viewers through a poisonous plot. This legend repeats nowadays when a French director flees to Hong Kong after killing her dog at home and stealing from it an old artifact containing this poisonous plot. She meets Taiwanese actor Jack Kao and veteran Hong Kong actress Carrie Ng, who all want to get a paycheck by participating in this poisonous movie with absolutely meaningless content that only kindergarten kids would watch through. Be warned.

Is Belgium becoming the new giallo country, after Amer this one?

[trashgang · 8/10 · 11 January 2012]

This is a Hong Kong, French and Belgium flick. Just look at the last country, Amer was also coming out of that country and let that be a giallo. I can say the same of Red Nights, it is also a giallo. You love it or you hate it, that's all I can say from giallo's, most of them aren't my cup of tea but this has some extra milk to pour on my tea. It all takes place in Hong Kong and here you will have some extra's on part of Asian movements of hands and rituals.

The way it was shot is a pure ode to the old Italian giallo's, the colours are very brightly and the use of some extra green lighting here and there adds toward that feeling. Naturally we do have a glove, a thing that is necessary in a giallo and the nudity.

The acting is sublime but that lays in the fact of Carrie Ng who we knew from Naked Killer (1992) and Fréderique Bel. Both are known in their own country but I would also praise a newcomer, Carole Brana.

I have heard people complaining about the fact that the story doesn't have anything to offer but that wasn't the case for me. There are a few surprises in it. On the horror factor it also deliver, there are a few gory shots and they also added some bondage to it. I wouldn't recommend it to the feint hearted because the opening scene were a full frontal nude Asian chick is covered with latex gives you a weird feeling. The torturing isn't for everybody too, some things are rather gory. If you like for example Takashi Miike flicks then you will love this one too.

Another giallo gem coming from Belgium with a sweet Asian overtone. I was surprised with it.

Gore 3/5 Nudity 2/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

A stunningly wicked and beautifully disturbing Thriller

[stevenusking · 10/10 · 15 March 2011]

I just watched it in Fantasporto Film Festival 2011. Wow! The relations between the women are stunningly wicked and the images of the film are beautifully disturbing. Killing people softly but till death do they part! It is such a revolutionary film, never seen anything like it before! If you watch it with a conservative mind and try to put it in any existing frame of genres in cinema, you will be lost. Because this movie is obvious an exploration of new sensations in cinema. A challenge in moral and an escape in reality, this movie is a crossover of love and death, modern and ancient, beauty and fear. Try to watch it with an open mind and you will be surprised how it drills in your heart. Love it!!!

A very strange movie that Combines Sex, Death and porn

[kellyeugene · 9/10 · 4 June 2017]

Just saw it..still puzzled by some details. First: the opening..the innocent young girl is put into the vacuum bed-enjoys the sensation-then is killed with the jade claws. this seems irrelevant to the main plot. anyway-the Frenchwoman who steals the box-shot twice and somehow recovers..how is that? finally, the ending devolves into a Jacky Chan type of slapstick. still, enjoyable..in and odd sort of way.

A Giallo Franco Cantonese, very graphic and well done.

[fernandojnfalmeida-672-226146 · 8/10 · 22 March 2022]

This is from a critic, which I thing summarize the movie:

Is most certainly not to everyone's taste and yet it's a rather fascinating movie: It's violent, it's perverted, its protagonists are all deplorable one way or another, but at the same time it tells an enjoyably bizarre story in elegant pictures and at a steady pace, it never loses itself in its perverions or bloodbaths but manages to always see the bigger picture, it features some bizarre but fun twists and turns, and it's carried by a very competent cast.

If you're into the grotesque, this is certainly worth a look!

I loved this!

[BandSAboutMovies · 8/10 · 17 June 2020]

I've seen giallo from all over the world, but this would be the first Hong Kong version I've ever seen. It was created by Julien Carbon and Laurent Courtiaud, whose Black Mask 2: City of Masks I had seen, but had not prepared me for this delicious offering.

It features Hong Kong starlet Carrie Ng (Naked Killer, Sex and Zen), who practically smolders the screen as Carrie Chan, a woman devoted to the sexual release of death and using her jade talons to render flesh into works of art.

During the reign of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, a torturer invented a special drug that paralyzed muscles yet increased the sensitivity of nerve endings. Sometimes he used this for erotic pleasures, but mostly it was used to extract pain from his victims. Yet he always wondered what the drug would be like for his own use, so he killed himself under its influence.

Now, the jade skull that contains this rare substance has been found by Catherine Trinquier (Frederique Bel, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec) and she sees it as a way to gain a fortune after murdering a lover to acquire this treasure.

Meanwhile, the demonic Carrie is staging a play all about the famed executioner while conducting her own psycho-sexual experimentations of pain and pleasure.

Known as Red Nights in the Western world, this movie has no slavish devotion to the 1970's giallo style while somehow feeling that it could rightly take its place within it, uniting the world of the exploitation anti-heroines like Olga and Ilsa while at the same time dipping a green clawed digit into the respective private parts of the best parts of the works of Martino and Franco, pausing for a moment to be bathed in the lights of Argento and basking in the sounds of a Morricone.

There are moments when I was worried that this film would descend into the depths of torture porn, but it righted itself many times. This is why I watch films, to discover new and delirious highs. Consider this a must-watch.