The Red Tide Massacre (2022) - Horror Film Review

Red tide is a real life event in which toxic algae proliferates in the water, leading to deaths of many types of fish, while also posing a health risk to humans. The Red Tide Massacre was released in 2022, a year after Florida's last red tide incident. Directed by John A. Russo (My Uncle John Is a Zombie!), Gavin Peretti, and Joseph M. Setele, this light hearted eco-horror keeps its scary moments on a tight leash, with the focus squarely on the characters.

This takes place in a small beach side town in Florida, in which a red tide event has resulted in the beaches being closed off, and people advised against going in the water. It is during this time that Al (Rich Sands) escapes from prison, he is shot by Sheriff Tom Fuller (Michael Paré - Bridge of the Doomed, Captors, Bone Tomahawk), but manages to escape after falling into a lake. His luck is short lived however, as the red algae infects the convict, and slowly it begins to mutate him into a monstrous half-fish/half-human creature who goes on a killing rampage. With the body count rising swiftly, Fuller, with the help of his men, and his son Tommy (Sam Schweikert), is determined to stop the menace.

While this was a bit light on actual horror, the characters to be found here were mostly all likable, people who I did not mind following around. Ignoring the antagonist obviously, the characters all seemed like easy to like people. I didn't mind that much the screen time is dedicated to characters talking and hanging out due to how likable they were, as there were plenty of kills, even if these were often very brief disjointed scenes. Over the course of the movie, Al mutates more and more, though never losing his orange prison jumpsuit. By film's end he reminded me a lot of a The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers type monster of the week, that isn't saying the effects looked bad, and the kill scenes were quite bloody. Deaths include drowning, decapitation, plenty of people getting their insides sliced open, and a great clawed hand bursting out of a chest, which did look CG, but was still entertaining to see. There are a fair amount of named characters who get killed, but often the short death scenes introduce new characters only to kill them off moments later, so become a bit predictable. 

Away from the monster, I found Tommy to be a fun protagonist, he had the potential to be too chilled and laid back, but instead he came across as really earnest and wanting to help the people of the town he loves so much. When a subplot began with him getting closer to a local news reporter, Rio Lee (Susan Elle), I figured this would be where things got less innocent, that she would use him to get closer to the case she was trying to report on. Instead, she was another really likable character. Tom Fuller was another decent character, figured he would be a grumpy stereotypical sheriff, but again, he came to be someone I really enjoyed spending time with.

I enjoyed watching The Red Tide Massacre, despite creature features not being my favourite genre of horror. I thought the make-up effects for the monster were good, and more than anything, I just really enjoyed the characters here. It leads up to some obvious moments, but it never loses sight of the lightness it holds, and culminates in a satisfying way. I did also like the epilogue that gives a little bit of text on what happened to each of the key characters after the conclusion of the story, was a nice touch. The Red Tide Massacre was due for release on 30th October by High Fliers Films. A lot of likable characters and lots of kills, maybe a bit simple, but quite inoffensive.

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