The Red Skulls

Review by William Weird

According to the blurb on the back of the RED SKULLS D.V.D. package, "the only thing more dangerous than a backstabbing street gang is a mutated, cannibalistic street gang."

Just like that, I'm sold. Those words are all that's needed to get me interested enough to fork over some of my stashed-away porn money for the opportunity to pick up a copy of THE RED SKULLS n' see for myself whether the purchase in question was a bright idea or not.

No fevered, sweaty, locked-door rendezvous with a video of Adriana Lynn and my own left hand tonight. No sir, not tonight. Sorry Ms. Lynn. I got a date with microcinema destiny!

Before anything, the flick starts off with an Ed Wood-esque introduction warning viewers about the horrific atrocities they are about to witness. It's a small touch, but it gives the proceedings a light, easy-going feel that tells you it's okay not to take any o' this shiznit seriously. The story of THE RED SKULLS takes place in the fictional city of Bronston, Ohio, where vicious street gangs like the Psycho Riders rule the roost. From the gimmicky, completely unrealistic nature of the gangs in question (no Crips or Bloods here, just shit-talkin' crackers with colorful nicknames n' decorative armbands), it's obvious from the start that RED SKULLS is out to ape the shtick of THE WARRIORS a li'l bit. No problem there. THE WARRIORS is a great flick, and if more movies aped it there'd be more movies worth watchin' if ya ask me.

Apparently, out of all the gangs in Bronston, the biggest, baddest one is the jean jacket and striped shirt-clad Red Skulls (whose appearance was reportedly modeled after the look of German youth gangs from the 1960's). The leader of the Skulls is Uri. That is, until the tragic death of fellow gang member Frank, who was mercilessly beaten and murdered by the newest gang lookin' to make a name for themselves on the mean streets of Bronston, the Rats. Haunted by the passing of his friend Frank, and jaded by the harsh existence of life in a street gang, Uri decides to call it quits. After a confrontation with the Skulls' second-in-command Lester at Frank's funeral, Uri opts out of the Skulls for good.

Unfortunately, Uri's departure spells bad news for, well, just about everybody. 'Cause now Lester's in charge of the Skulls, and Lester is one bad dude. First thing Lester does, in fact, is put a target on Uri's back. Because no one, and I mean no one, leaves the gang, goddammit! Then, Lester starts runnin' the gang his way. He starts recruiting new kids left and right, kids who have no idea what they're getting themselves into, kids just looking for a place to belong, kids who've never even been in a real throwdown before. What started, in the words of Frank's sister, as little more than "an excuse to get drunk and start fights," suddenly becomes brutally serious. Lester's playin' for keeps now, and he's building an army, an army with which he plans to wage a full-on war against the Rats. The new recruits, including the deceased Frank's emo-haired kid brother Donnie, are little more than cannon fodder. And Lester couldn't give a shit. He's a cold-hearted, manipulative bastard looking to turn the Red Skulls into his own personal engine of death, all for a power-hungry, vendetta-fueled, suicidal campaign against the Rats. He may be an asshole n' an idiot, but he sure is a charismatic one.

Unbeknownst to Lester, a rogue pair of Skulls go off on their own n' raid a medical supply warehouse looking for drugs. Later on, at a wild, liquor-drenched blow-out taking places in the Skulls' crumbling, graffiti-stained, rockabilly party pad, the gang's booze accidentally gets spiked by some unknown elixer pilfered from said warehouse. No one knows what exactly this goop is, but the aftereffects of imbibing the suspiciously fruit punch-lookin' toxin sure are extreme. The infected Skulls promptly begin coughing up blood, their veins bulge, their flesh bubbles, and their eyes weep tears of scarlet. Oh yeah, they also become completely overtaken by a rabid, homicidal rage (a la' 28 DAYS LATER ).

Unfortunately for Uri, this night is the one he's picked to try and re-infiltrate the Skulls' ranks in order to get Donnie out before the hard knock life of being a gang member leads him into perdition. Hmmm, too late, it seems. Transformed into a hateful horde o' skull-crackin', viscera-gougin' mutantoid freaks, the Skulls go apeshit, and those with untainted blood are summarily picked off by the poison-blooded sickos in short order. It isn't long before the Uri and Donnie (as well as the deceased Frank's sister) are forced to begrudgingly join forces with Lester and Lester's laconic, cleaver-swingin' number one enforcer (as well as a few, quickly dispatched, others), just in hopes of surviving the night.

The plot finally comes to head (spoiler alert, sucka!) with a surprise twist wherein the Rats show up at the very end with a mind to pick a fight with the infected Skulls (our put-upon heroes, of course, getting caught in the middle). The two gangs then wipe each other out in a crimson-colored carnival of carnage that, I swear, will knock your dick in the dirt.

The fact that this bad boy was released under Tempe Video's notorious Splatter Rampage imprint (Tempe fans, pay attention: THE RED SKULLS includes a cameo from J.R. Bookwalter stable actor James L. Edwards, as the tattoo artist who begrudgingly marks the Skulls' clan members for life) is fitting, as there's no shortage of the red stuff to be found in this fierce shot-on-video chunkblower. We got dismemberments, disembowelments, and decapitations aplenty. I can't imagine any ketchup-addicted gorehound going home with an empty stomach after a screenin' of THE RED SKULLS.

Sadly, I can't say that every element of RED SKULLS is as satisfying as it's blood-and-guts quotient.

Written and directed by the Campbell brothers, Luke n' Andy, whose previous flicks MIDNIGHT SKATER and DEMON SUMMER were imperfect but still impressive, THE RED SKULLS is a damningly uneven effort. The script is dramatic and well-written, and the direction is extremely good as well, very striking on a visual level, and it showcases many highly professional camera movements. Obviously, the Campbells have learned a lot over the years, from the many movies they've grown up watching (as well as the few they themselves have worked on), about where to place a camera, and how to evoke a lot of mood and atmosphere with the imagery they create. On top of that, every scene is packed with nifty sight gags. Who doesn't love a good sight gag, right?

The story, which sometimes dabbles in non-linear structural elements, is engrossing, and I liked the way it took two not terribly original story ideas n' smooshed em' together in an original way, creating something that is, at once, familiar yet fresh. It's clear the Campbells put a shitload of hard work into the making of this flick. However, while THE RED SKULLS is just as impressive as DEMON SUMMER and MIDNIGHT SKATER, this movie is likewise as imperfect.

While the picture shows a marked evolution from their earlier efforts, the Campbells' production quality is not quite up the level of their artistic abilities. The direction is exceptional, the editing is exceptional, and the writing is exceptional (even if, I confess, lapses in logic do abound). However, just about everything else comes up short. The choreography is wonky as hell, and too many of the fight scenes look like bad slapstick routines. Even action scenes that do work still lack oomph. Similarly, the actor blocking is awkward and amateurish. The whole movie, in the end, is much, much cheesier than it's meant to be.

The bargain basement grue is pretty outstanding, but the actors who own the innards which get ripped from their bodies are less than stellar. Most of them at least try (unlike wayyyy too many half-hearted would-be thespians I've seen in a hundred other microbudget misfires), so I give 'em brownie points for that, but just about everyone in the cast is still way, way too dry and way too flat. Almost every line reading is delivered with about as much emotion as a robot. Moldy slices of wheat bread could deliver more personality than half of these hacks. Furthermore, though the characters are all written as tough-talkin' shitkickers, most of the "actors" cast in those roles aren't very believable as such. If one o' these dudes came at me in a dark alley, I'd probably bust a gut laughing.

Of all the actors in the movie, the best is the guy who plays Lester, and the worst is the one who plays Uri. While the guy who plays Lester really makes an effort to sell his lines and develop some kind of characterization for himself, the guy who plays Uri too often looks dull and uninterested in everything that's happening. The most interesting thing about the man is his freakin' sideburns.

The kicker is that THE RED SKULLS had a whoooole lot of potential. Heck, I'd even say that it had the potential to be a truly great microcinema flick. If it had just been a bit better, a bit more consistent, a bit more well-executed, a bit more watchable, then THE RED SKULLS would've easily been a contender for the throne of best modern microbudget movie I've ever seen. I would've ranked this picture right up there with favorites of mine like EVIL CULT , SKI WOLF , OZONE , and PROJECT: VALKYRIE . As it is, though, THE RED SKULLS failed to live up to its full potential, and must settle for being a good movie, as opposed to a great one.

I was originally going to give THE RED SKULLS a 3-point rating, but I've decided to knock it up to 3.5, for effort. Though it's flaws are not few, I admire and appreciate the Campbells' gumption, talent, creativity, and ambition. It's easy to see what they were going for, to give 'em lots of credit for how close they got, and to mourn the way they came up short. The movie definitely grows on you over time. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if I sat down to watch this movie two years from now and ended up enjoying it a whole lot more. Maybe bump it up another half or whole rating point or so, que no?

I've long argued that the no-budget, shot-on-video, do-it-yourself microcinema scene is the most underappreciated and wrongfully dismissed subsect of the modern film industry (next to porn, that is, which is similarly underappreciated n' wrongfully dismissed), and THE RED SKULLS, regardless of its failings, is a prime piece of evidence in support of my beliefs.

The story, as I already mentioned, is very well-done, in spite of its many plot holes and continuity errors (mind you, I've always felt that people who criticize a movie because of stupid little "flubs" n' stuff are dickheads), and, seemingly aware of the problems plaguing this production, the Lake and Andy Campbell made sure to craft a memorable, exciting finale', so that the audience members leave things with a good taste in their mouths, despite some of the sour bits that may have assaulted their cinematic taste buds earlier.

Also of considerable help is a brooding, droning soundtrack that succeeds at selling the seriousness of the story when the actors often fail. It's quite reminiscent of the dark synth scores in 1980's John Carpenter films, occasionally bolstered by some tangy, twangy, Morricone-inspired spaghetti western influences. The soundtrack is probably the best aspect of the whole movie, thanks mainly to Luke Campbell's score, as well as a few truly tushy-kickin' tunes contributed by Gein & The Graverobbers, Gutter Demons, and The Lords Of The Highway. Frankly, I'd like to own a album-format copy of the soundtrack. It's that damn good.

Providing more entertainment support is how steeped RED SKULLS is in pop culture, without being cluttered with it. The Campbells' aim here to capture the same kind of gritty, dixie-fried cowboy tone as NEAR DARK or THE DEVIL'S REJECTS is often (not always, but often) a tremendous success, giving the picture a very hyperrealist Garth Ennis-derived comic book feel. The post-infection portion of the picture plays out much like a poor man's permutation of FROM DUSK TILL DAWN , only with less nudity (dagnabbit!). Moreover, the full length of the flick is sprinkled with small, and reasonably well-hidden, homages to pop culture. These homages include a tip of the hat to legendary Fear frontman Lee Ving and even a semi-obscure reference to the classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoons. Thankfully, the movie's many nods are never overly in-your-face or distracting (as is often the case when independent horror filmmakers decide to litter their movies with these sorts of things).

While the eye-catching D.V.D. cover art that Tempe Video's whipped up for this release is gonna be what pulls you in, what'll keep you coming back are things like the above-described, as well as some extremely quotable dialogue (including such memorable lines as "smoking a cigarette through a filter is a lot like suckin' a tit through a sweater" and "I like it rough too... in fact, I masturbate with sandpaper") that you'll no doubt be droppin' at every opportunity.

Take its cues from twisted fuckers like EVIL DEAD -era Sam Raimi and DEAD ALIVE -era Peter Jackson, THE RED SKULL is a maniacal mash-up of the exploitation action films of the 70's and the juicy, over-the-top splatstick films of the 80's. Not only does it provide a few chills, a lot of thrills, and a shit-ton of gore, but also frequent (though usually non-intrusive) touches of humor (both intentional and unintentional). It's a cheapjack gorehound pig-out that gets better everytime you watch it. And, believe me, you will definitely want to watch it more than once.

Caaaan... yoooou... dig it?

...

Yeah, I thought you could.

Until next slime...
Stay sick!
Your pickled pal,
William Weird.

 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 bottles o' toxic hooch
Recommendation: rent it
Best moment: Skulls versus Rats, the final confrontation