Red Rabbit Lodge (2026) Review
Amongst Sydney’s sunlit beaches stands one of the city’s oldest and most mysterious houses – Red Rabbit Lodge, a sanctuary for foreign students, including Abigail Mason (Rachel Myskiv) who is trying to put her traumatic past behind her.
Unbeknownst to the lodgers, the house harbours sinister secrets steeped in bloody violence that refuse to stay buried and within its walls lurks a malevolent masked murder, patiently waiting to strike again as his new victims settle in.
As the killer begins his reign of terror each death unravels the house’s deadly history, forcing Abigail to confront not only the terrifying present but also her own inner demons
Dare to visit Red Rabbit Lodge for a gruesome slasher releasing unrelating horrors that demand a reckoning with the past.
Red Rabbit Lodge sets out with a clear affection for the slasher films of the 1980s, and for a brief stretch, it convincingly captures that retro spirit. From its bouncy, synth-driven score to its uneven sound design and bursts of bloody violence, the film evokes the texture of a low-budget VHS-era throwback. There are also flashes of visual flair: the off-kilter angle used to introduce the titular lodge is striking, while a dusk-lit shot of a character reflected in a swimming pool hints at a more assured directorial eye.
Unfortunately, these promising elements are not enough to sustain the film. What begins with a genuinely intriguing hook—an unsettling early encounter that suggests menace and misdirection—quickly loses momentum. An overextended party sequence and a languid beach montage stall the narrative, leaving the middle portion of the film largely devoid of tension or purpose. The characters, meanwhile, lack the charisma or depth needed to maintain engagement, and even their sharper, more antagonistic exchanges fail to generate much spark.
The film’s structural issues become even more apparent around the halfway mark, when it abruptly reintroduces its masked killer without any meaningful buildup. The absence of suspense undermines what should be pivotal moments, reducing the threat to an afterthought rather than a looming presence. Attempts to inject exploitation-style intrigue, including a would-be provocative shower scene, similarly fall flat, suggesting a film unsure of how far it wants to push its own tone.
Questions of logic and setting further weaken the experience. Odd details—such as photo albums with every subject’s eyes scratched out yet inexplicably preserved—feel more distracting than unsettling. Likewise, situating the lodge beside a busy main road diminishes any sense of isolation, making the unfolding violence harder to باور. A more remote setting might have amplified the atmosphere and plausibility.
To its credit, Red Rabbit Lodge does deliver a couple of effective kills in its final stretch, including a visceral chainsaw sequence and a convincing severed head effect. However, by the time the film finds its footing, it is simply too late. What could have been a tight, nostalgic homage instead becomes an uneven and ultimately unsatisfying entry in the slasher genre.
Red Rabbit Lodge is on UK digital 13 April from Seven Tales