An undeniably inventive, visually stunning sci-fier, made for a reputed $2,000, “Red Cockroaches” reps a triumph of technology in the hands of a visionary with know-how, Miguel Coyula. Combining disorienting f/x with subtle in-computer adjustments to color and lighting accompanied by a minimalist but spookily evocative score, helmer-scripter-lenser-editor-composer Miguel Coyula creates an uncomfortably rancid world where the rain is acidic and cockroaches glow red. Specialized handling, perhaps Net-generated, could build strong underground interest in eventual DVD release.
Pic swims in an atmosphere of unsavory mystery: A long-dead sister inexplicably turns up on a subway platform only to later engage in graphic ketchup-smeared incest with hero/brother (Adam Plotch, who could give Peter Lorre’s Raskolnikov lessons in Dostoyevskian peculiarity). Eros and Thanatos take turns supplying plot-twists as characters copulate, visit mommy or commit murder against ravishing backdrops in lurid monochromes or glowering black-and-white. In a future of “Blade Runner”-like bleakness, electronic signs flash ads for DNA-21, layers of wraith-like mist float through the atmosphere and television newscasters report child abductions and warn of mutant species. Tech credits are unique.
