Red’s Off Season

Last Updated on July 27, 2021

Jack Ketchum’s OFF SEASON is a nasty piece of fiction – predating “torture porn” by at least 15 years. It features what’s now standard issue imagery in movies like WRONG TURN and HILLS HAVE EYES: dirty sub-human cannibals slicing, dicing, and gutting more civilized folk, before the tables get predictably turned. (Although to be fair, Wes Craven’s original HILLS was released before Ketchum’s novel, however its not nearly as extreme.) I read the book a few months ago and considering how nightmarish it is, it’s a surprise that it is only just now making the leap to the big screen… But that’s what is apparently in the cards, as our buddy Eric Red (100 FEET, BODY PARTS) announced that he and Ketchum are collaborating to stage the freaky tale in front of cameras! Red announced as much the other day at a 100 FEET screening. A Bloody Disgusting reporter caught Red saying this to the audience after the film was over: “I’ve known Jack for 30 years and we’ve been wanting to do this together, and I think now’s the time.”

Knowing Red, and the material, I’d say this is bound for an NC-17 rating, at least initially. There’s really no way of glossing over the grisly events that take place. The only question is, will we have had enough of that sort’ve thing by the time the flick sees the light of day?

(NOTE: Strangely enough, Ketchum’s sequel to OFF SEASON, called OFF SPRING, will be making the book-to-film transition first. Andrew Van Den Houten’s company Modernciné is working on it now.)