REVIEW: Blood Red Beach (2025)
- Alix Moad
- 22 hours ago
- 3 min read
REVIEW: Blood Red Beach
There’s a charm to low-budget, independent films. While contemporary studio films are focused on being crisp and clean and polished and perfect, those making low-budget films are usually focused on one thing: get the damn thing made.
These aren’t meant to be backhanded compliments - as a low-budget filmmaker, I know my own work isn’t as polished as a studio film in its video, audio, writing, and acting. Low-budget films are unique from multi-million-dollar-budget films in the way that the brush strokes are still very visible. The process of filmmaking leaves marks on the final product, and in projects that don’t have the budget or time to erase or disguise them, those marks become part of the final product.
All of this is to say that I genuinely love watching low-budget independent films, and I really enjoyed watching Blood Red Beach.
Blood Red Beach is the twenty-third feature film from production company Mad Angel Films. Directed by Matthew A. Peters and written by Mark Joseph Peek, the film follows a group of friends that meet up for an island vacation that quickly goes awry.
Blood Red Beach begins with a flashback that takes place in 1699. A young woman named Saraya (Cara Fey) is captured by a group of pirates led by Captain Roderick Cross (Mark Joseph Peek). Before they burn her at the stake for being a witch, Saraya is able to wield her magic to kill Captain Cross’s crew and curse him to wander the world as a spirit until he finds his treasure.
In the present, five friends arrive at the same island where they are being hosted by their friend Preston (Berndele March) and his girlfriend Harley (Malvina Lacey). Preston informs the group that they aren’t just here to kick back and relax; he’s recently come into a lot of money and has set up a scavenger hunt to decide who will get a share of his newfound wealth. What follows is a horned-up, pirate-themed, drama-filled search for treasure that leads the group right into the grasp of Captain Cross.
Blood Red Beach manages something that a lot of low-budget indies struggle with: it keeps its tact intact. There are plenty of sexual encounters throughout the film, and all of them feel natural, consensual, and are genuinely fun to watch. The film leans into the silly aspects of sex and intimacy, and as a result, those scenes don’t feel gross or exploitative - they feel relatable. Even the moments that stray into kinky territory feel informed and celebratory of the kink being shown on screen - the joke is the inherent silliness in human sexuality, not the expression of sexuality itself.
In a similar vein, the movie is funny. I found myself laughing constantly, and something I really enjoyed was that the jokes weren’t constantly at the expense of other characters or groups of people. The film relies on situational comedy, the comedy inherent in the circumstances the characters find themselves in. So often, I find myself watching low-budget films from small teams that are trying to be funny, but at the end of the day, the characters are just making mean-spirited comments in the hopes of shocking a laugh out of the audience. Blood Red Beach manages to keep its humor kind-hearted and effective.
Overall, Blood Red Beach was an enjoyable watch with good performances, some gorgeously lit Giallo-esque scenes, and an (often, but not always) raunchy sense of humor that reminded me why I love indie films.
Blood Red Beach is now available on Blu-Ray, DVD, VHS, and Limited Collector’s Box Sets exclusively through the Mad Angel Films website: www.madangelfilms.com
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