The R.I.P Man (2025) – Film Review

The R.I.P Man is a low-budget, independently-produced, British slasher film, written by Rhys Thomson, and directed by Jamie Langlands. Before going further with this review, I think I should point out that, in this case, the acronym R.I.P. doesn’t stand for “Rest in Peace”, but “Rest in Pain”, and the villain of the story, Alden Pick (Owen Llewelyn), spends much of his time wearing a custom gum shield bearing the three letters, to help add a little extra oomph to his killer smile.

The film begins by introducing a young college student named Abigail Freight (August Porter), who is home alone and totally unaware there is a menacing-looking man lurking in the garden below her bedroom window. While she’s applying her makeup, Abigail receives a text message from an unknown number. Short but certainly not sweet, the message says “R.I.P Abigail Freight”, along with her date of birth and a second date that suggests she is presently enjoying her last day on earth.

Abigail is not initially unnerved by the ominous text, presuming one of her friends is having a joke, but grows uneasy when she realizes the door to the balcony behind her is open. After closing it, she goes downstairs to lock the main entrance to the house. Unfortunately, when Abigail closed the door to her balcony, she failed to lock it. This turns out to be a fatal mistake. When she returns to her room, Abigail finds the killers calling card—some wind-up chattering teeth—waiting for her, on the bed, and, after a brief but pointless struggle, the R.I.P Man stabs her several times, pins her to the floor, and then extracts one of her teeth with the help of a cordless drill and a pair of pliers. The kill scene is shown through a blue filter. I’m not sure if this adds anything to the scene, but nor does it take anything away.

Not surprisingly, Abigail’s boyfriend, Jaden (Bruno Cryan), is taken down to the police station for questioning. Although the police release Jaden, suggesting they don’t see the young man as a suspect, many of his fellow students give him the cold shoulder. Fortunately, his friends Donnie (Maximus Polling), Jasmine (Clarissa Staunton), Niykee (Mia Bowd) and Timmy (Callum Chapman) are more supportive. However, after Timmy and Niykee die grisly deaths, Jaden is further ostracized by those outside of his immediate group. Meanwhile, the police investigation has moved into other areas, and it has become obvious the killer is not picking his victims at random. He appears to be focusing on Abigail’s closest friends. The reason for this gradually becomes clear, and will likely take most viewers by surprise.

The R.I.P Man was produced on a budget of just £20,000, yet is surprisingly well-polished and nicely done. It’s not one of those shaky-cam efforts that screams “Indie!” and alienates viewers by a combination of poor scripting and wooden acting. The film grabs viewer attention right from the start by introducing a young girl who is obviously in danger—whether she realizes it or not. After that, there is always plenty happening, with the focus mainly switching between Abigail’s friends, the police investigation, and scenes of the R.I.P Man doing his thing.

As for the special effects, don’t expect buckets of blood or hefty helpings of gore. Although there are scenes of bloodshed and mutilation, the nasty stuff (mostly) isn’t shown in loving detail, so hardened fans of the slasher film genre may find this one too tame. That being said, the tooth extraction scenes, and the drill shots that precede them may be a little too well done for some viewers. In one scene, although the camera cuts away as the drill bit is parting the victim’s lips, the sound of metal crunching on tooth enamel is very convincing. I cringed, I admit it, and I bet many other viewers will have a similar response.

The basic story is quite clever. I failed to guess Aiden’s motivation, and I’m sure I won’t be alone in that. Aiden’s reason for pulling his victim’s teeth is also interesting, revolving round his own dental condition, and an obsession with the beliefs and barbaric actions of a strange Italian cult, called the Dentes Clan. The R.I.P Man offers something fresh and different, making it an especially good choice for those who are sick of all those Hollywood rehashes, reboots, and remakes.

The fact that The R.I.P Man isn’t recycling overused ideas is certainly a point in its favour, but, at times, it tries a little too hard to impress. For instance, Aiden’s somewhat spiky attire looks too contrived and shiny and new, coming across as something that is fresh from the wardrobe department, rather than somebody’s everyday (killing) wear.

The scene where Timmy is killed also has questionable merit. Although, it’s suitably nasty for a slasher film, some viewers may find it hard to suspend disbelief. Embedding drills and circular saws in a concrete floor would be difficult, to say the least. The mechanics of combining them with a retractable mechanism would be even harder.

However, niggles aside, the film has more working in its favour than it does working against it. If this review has piqued your interest, The R.I.P Man is easy to source. It’s available on Amazon, Apple, Sky Store and Google Play.

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