Red Line (2013 film)

Plot

Terrified subway passengers fight for their lives after a terrorist bombing leaves them trapped underground in Los Angeles' subway tunnels. With another bomb ticking down and the perpetrator among them, it's a race against time for survival.

Cast

Nicole Gale Anderson as Tori
John Billingsley as Sam
Kunal Sharma as Al
Kevin Sizemore as Jared
Joe Williamson as Mason
Mark Saul as Boyd
Keena Ferguson as Rubina
Renee Sly as Dillon
Kym Jackson as Kristine
Anna Maganini as Yolanda
Jamie Nieto as Adam

Pre-production

Red Line began as a "real-world experience" senior project for film students at John Paul the Great Catholic University. In 2010, producers Chris Riley and Dominic Iocco, both professors at the University, challenged the school's film students to generate story concepts that could potentially be filmed in the school's soundstage. The staff knew that they wanted it to be a contained space thriller due to limited budget and resources. Screenwriting student Tara Stone pitched a World War II period thriller about people who are trapped together in a wine cellar during the London Blitz and begin to suspect that a Nazi spy is among them. Upon the advice of Chris Riley and director Rob Kirbyson, also a professor at the school, the script was changed during the writing process to become a contemporary piece set in the subway system of Los Angeles. The change was both to reduce costs and to make the piece more relevant to modern audiences.

Leveraging the faculty's connections in the film industry, the students and professors then recruited professional crew to head up various departments, including Beverly Holloway for casting, Toby Lamm for the makeup department, David Barnaby for sound design, and Glen Hall for production design. Nicole Gale Anderson, well known for her role in the Disney Channel series Jonas L.A., signed on as a lead actress, accompanied by John Billingsley, whose credits include 2012, Star Trek: Enterprise, and 24.

Filming

Filming of Red Line occurred over 25 days in summer 2011. While the movie incorporated on-location shooting at Hollywood and Highland subway station, most of the film was shot in a 1,200 square foot soundstage at John Paul the Great Catholic University's initial campus in Scripps Ranch, San Diego, California. The film was noteworthy for using a large amount of students from the University as production crew; about 60-70% of the school's 120 student population were involved in some way. When it came to building the set of a bombed out subway car and tunnel, the project was able to maintain a low budget by using students and faculty for all of the construction labor.

Release

Red Line premiered at the San Diego Film Festival on Sep. 29, 2012, where it won the U-T San Diego Award.

Red Line received a domestic release in July 2013, through DVD and digital distribution. The film was released in Red Box on July 9. The film became available to purchase on DVD at Walmart, Target, and Amazon on July 23. It also became available on Netflix and various Video on Demand channels in domestic and international markets. The film received an MPAA rating of "R for some violence."

Reception

The film received poor to fair reviews from critics and audiences; however, many reviewers were impressed by the level of production quality achieved by a student project. IMDB user ratings gave it a 4.8/10 stars, based on 808 reviews. Nav Qateel of 1nfluxMagazine said, "the direction by Robert Kirbyson was also solid, as he managed a decent pace, keeping it interesting and edge-or-your-seat from pretty much the getgo, not letting up till the very end," and called it "a fine example of what can be achieved by small studios on a budget, when they are determined enough to get the job done." The film currently has no critic consensus on Rotten Tomatoes; however, only 15% of audience members liked it, based on 35 user ratings.