The Red Skulls
Directed By The Campbell Brothers
Released: 2006
Starring: Luke Campbell, Laura Robbins, Chuck Cieslik, and Roza Haidet
Running Time: 81 minutes
Region: 0 NTSC
DVD Released By Tempe DVD

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After the death of one of their founding members, Frank, the Red Skulls gang is in a disastrous state. When their leader, Uri (played by Luke Campbell), decides to leave the gang for good, the treacherous Lester (Chuck Cieslik) takes over with two missions: 1. launch an all out assault on their rivals, The Rats and 2. kill Uri before he can skip town. To complicate matters, Frank’s younger brother Donnie (Knayte Lander) has now been inducted into The Red Skulls and his sister Jess (Laura Robbins) and Uri want to get him out of town as well before he gets lost in the gang life.

To further complicate matters, Tito (Andrew Mercer), one of The Red Skulls, obtains a poisonous red liquid from a botched warehouse robbery which turns people into violent zombie-like mutants. Tito tries to use the liquid to poison Lester so that he can become leader. He accidentally poisons nearly the entire gang and all hell breaks loose. Now Uri and Jess have to figure out a way to save Donnie while fighting off the hordes of monstrous of zombified Red Skulls.

Am I in Rockabilly Hipster Heaven or Rockabilly Hipster Hell? Eh, who cares? The Red Skulls is an awesome Indie horror flick with copious amounts of violence and grotesque gore. The story is engrossing and the script is well written though it is loaded with hokey gang-member-bravado-dialogue that must be difficult to deliver with a straight face. So hats off to the actors in The Red Skulls. These folks are obviously very dedicated and pull off some great performances. The film’s disclaimer/introduction is just too dang cool and the camera work is excellent throughout.

So crack open a Pabst and enjoy the gang warfare, the mutants, the blood, and the cute rockabilly chicks of The Red Skulls. Every once in a while an Indie hits the right chord by being good cheap fun. The Campbell Brothers are very ambitious but the film rarely feels as though they are going beyond their means. Check this one out.

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DVD Stuff:

The DVD extras include a Behind The Scenes featurette, some Tempe DVD/Splatter Rampage trailers, a Special Effects featurette, an outtakes reel, a music video, and a short film. The Red Skulls looks and sounds very clear (despite a couple of audio dropouts) and even though the widescreen isn’t anamorphic, you won't be left wanting much more from the presentation.

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Links:

For more information, go to Tempe Home Video.

Or check out Compound Pictures.

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Quotes:

"You know, smoking a cigarette with a filter is like sucking a tit through a sweater."