The Red Skulls
Directed by The Campbell Brothers
Tempe Video

If you took The Warriors, The Outsiders and Street Trash and mixed them together you'd have the basic idea behind The Red Skulls. The film is violent and comical and despite a few shortcomings manages to be very entertaining.

The Red Skulls are a street gang whose leader was recently killed by a rival gang, The Rats. Uri, the second in command with The Red Skulls, should take over but instead decides to quit the gang and leave town. That of course pisses off the remaining gang members making Uri become a pariah quite quickly. When the former leaders brother decides to join the gang Uri tries his best to change his mind and keep him from getting killed just like his brother.

Things get interesting when the gang is meeting before the big fight with The Rats and one of the members of The Red Skulls adds a mysterious liquid stolen from a medical supply warehouse to the gangs alcohol supply. Once the gang members drink the tainted booze they quickly turn into blood thirsty maniacs and the gore really starts to fly.

The gore is well done and plentiful with an old school yet slightly cheesy feel that matches the movie perfectly. Sure you can tell that the severed limbs and heads are fake but you have one hell of a time watching them being hacked off. The makeup effects on the mutated gang members are also handled well with some very gross and ridiculously large growths on their faces and necks.

As this is a low budget film the acting quality is of varying quality. The main gang members are all played well but some of the smaller parts leave a bit to be desired. There are definitely a few scenes that have a reading from cue cards feel to them. It certainly isn't the worst acting I have ever seen but it does make a few scenes lose a bit of impact in the film. Some of the fighting is also a bit rough around the edges and the sound effects could have used a bit more oomph during the brawls.

For a low budget film this is actually a pretty damn good looking movie. The shots are well lit and while there is a bit of grain the overall picture quality is quite impressive. If you are expecting this to look like it was shot on a camcorder you are going to be very disappointed, this is low budget film making done right. Sure it isn't of Hollywood standards but it isn't bottom of the barrel either.

With a quick pace and bloodshed to spare, The Red Skulls is a clever combination of the horror genre and the gang films of the 70's. With humor, gore and a violent edge, this is a film that will appeal to Troma fans as well as fans of Savage Streets or Class of 1984.

Order The Red Skulls Here!