The kangaroo has been immortalised on the big screen as a giant zombie killer called “Rippy” in Halloween horror flick The Red.

First-time feature film director Ryan Coonan is the brains behind The Red, an 83-minute kill-fest based on a short he made in 2014.

Just in time for Halloween, Coonan – with a $7.5 million budget and an outback Queensland set – has made what could be his first and last crack at the horror genre.

“Killer kangaroo movie is neither fun nor thrilling,” wrote a Bloody Disgusting review on Rotten Tomatoes.

“Ultimately, the appalling creature visuals are the biggest letdown in an already boilerplate movie, with no distinct personality to call its own, but maybe those factors will draw audiences who enjoy schlocky material.”

And this from Spectrum Culture‘s Miyako Pleines:”Ryan Coonan’s Rippy [The Red] is nothing short of one of the most uninteresting, boring films to ever grace the screen”.

Others criticised the disjointed storyline, the editing and the music, with few emotional arcs typically integral to a slash-and-burn horror, although one said it was a “must watch” with some good cinematography.

Coonan is quick to explain there’s more to his low-budget drama-thriller-horror film than meets the eye.

Starring Hollywood actor Michael Biehn (The Terminator, Aliens, Navy Seals) and Tess Haubrich (Last King of the Cross), Coonan says he was influenced by classic creature features including The Thing, An American Werewolf in London, Jaws and our own genuinely scary boar killer Razorback.

“[The Red] explores the conflict between obligation and freedom of choice, the grief of losing a loved one and the lies we tell ourselves, and each other, to protect the memories of those that have passed.

“It is also about a seven-foot-tall (2.1 metres) undead kangaroo, and the start of the apocalypse … and my own experiences growing up in a small rural town, where my father was the local cop.”

“[It] is a story about understanding one’s true worth.”

So bad it’s good?

Rippy might gain traction, just like the success story of the 2013 hit Sharknado, about killer sharks flying through the air in Los Angeles.

With a budget of $US1 million ($A1.52 million), the shark film’s over-the-top premise and theatrics earned it a cult following, five sequels, spin-offs and  merchandise, with total box office receipts in excess of $US789 million.

Coonan’s story begins when Maddy (Haubrich), a young sheriff obsessed with living up to her dead father’s legacy, finds her mettle tested when locals are found ripped to shreds.

She must face up to her past and work with her eccentric Vietnam veteran uncle (Biehn) to defeat the kangaroo who is responsible for the murders before it kills everyone in town.

With the help of locals, Maddy takes on Rippy in the battle for survival and to stop his killing spree.

The Red: Rippy’s Gone Rogue is in Australian cinemas now. Photo: Radioactive Pictures

HollywoodInToto says the “Aussie thriller boasts solid performances but few thrills or laughs”.

Coonan says the audience will be drawn into an “allegorical world of outback Australia, and experience alongside Maddy the thrills and scares that only a remote setting at night can deliver”.

” … the sonic landscape will exploit the isolated locations and feature some of the naturally horrific bush and animal sounds that exist in the remote outback.”

He also promises The Red will deliver genuine horror.

The Red premieres in cinemas nationally on October 31