A botched heist inclines into a siege, with dialogue that sizzles, with a plot that twists in all the right ways, whilst throwing in underground Nazi biological experimentation. This is the scintillating surprise that is Chris Grega’s Red Night at Skye’s.
Brock Roberts is Cole Boyd, an ex-military man with a wife close to death, a family on the brink of fracturing, and a life swiftly slipping down the toilet. And on top of that, money is really tight. This is the Dog Day Afternoon effect that triggers the “act first and ask questions later” mentality, which sees Boyd hook up with a bunch of fellow ex-servicemen, and a junky-in-the-know, Robbie Ray (Joe Hammerstone), armed with a plan to rip off a pawnshop called Skye’s. They nail this score, and they’ll make out like bandits. Get rich and see all their work-a-day woes extinguished. Plus, it’s guilt-free as the pawnshop is merely a front for some backwoods Breaking Bad types. Should be easy? Wrong! S@#t goes south in more ways than one, and as soon as the heist begins, this movie gets better the longer it goes on.
“…Boyd hook up with a bunch of fellow ex-servicemen, and a junky-in-the-know, Robbie Ray, armed with a plan to rip off a pawnshop called Skye’s.”
Boyd and crew opt for an Ex-Presidents-style robbery. Waltz in and waltz as quickly as possible out. Sticking to the aim of collecting as much ill-gotten cash as they can carry on their way out the door. But they never make it back outside. The simple plan soon slips away when Skye’s employees aren’t the run-of-the-mill hillbillies the former soldiers were counting on. These good ol’ boys dig in their heels and give the rag-tag robbers a rebel yell in reply to their broadsword tactics. Bullets fly, people die, and soon the opposing forces find themselves on different sides of the premises, separated by a safety door. It’s Reservoir Dogs meets Resident Evil in a battle so violent, the heroes’ survival till first light has the odds stacked heavily against them.
With a Cabin in the Woods-like controlled descent into WTF territory, and brilliantly paced and staged by the cast and editing, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. This reviewer has absolutely no intention of spoiling a single second of this film, so to tantalize I will put it to you as such; Red Night at Skye’s is the apotheosis, nay, the literal embodiment of the perfect beer and pizza movie night in.
Kudos to Brock Roberts for his steely, stalwart lead and delivery of great lines like, “better than Butch and Sundancing our way out of here,” alongside Joe Hammerstone’s junky jester, adding yet another standout turn in an already prolific character-acting career. And not forgetting a special appearance as the wise yet crotchety man with a past, horror icon Bill Mosely.
I hope Red Night at Skye’s leaves you as it did me. Grinning ear to ear, thinking, “YEAH, THAT ROCKED!” You heard it right here, folks: get your eyes around this movie. It’s the most fun you can have with super-nazi-meth on your breath, in a pawnshop with a red button, that if pressed, shall unleash HELL!
"…the perfect beer and pizza movie..."
