“Code Red” may not be a great zombie film but it’s not terrible either. It’s just an average direct-to-video zombie horror B film. If you are familiar with Paul Logan action/horror films, you know what to expect! But if you love independent zombie horror films, microwave some popcorn, sit back, watch and enjoy!
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DVD TITLE: Code Red
DATE OF FILM RELEASE: 2013
DURATION: 94 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: 1:78:1 aspect ratio, 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English SDH
COMPANY: e One Entertainment
RATED: NOT RATED
RELEASE DATE: February 4, 2014
Directed by Valeri Milev
Written by Valeri Milev, Matthew Waynee
Producer: Donald A. Barton, Konstantin Borov, Gia Muresan, Bashar Rahal
Executive Producer: Paul Hudson, Stefan Ivanov, Atanas Krustanoff, Dilian Pavlov, Aleksandar Zdravkov
Associate Producer: Atanas Kolev, Robert Shalhoub
Cinematography by Anton Bakarski, Emil Tipuzov
Casting by Mariana Stanisheva
Starring:
Paul Logan as John
Velizar Binev as Nitchev
Forbes KB as General Owen
Mya-LEcia Naylor as Miriam
Elitsa Razheva as Katrina
Manal El-Feitury as Anna
Valentine Ganev as General
A World War II Russian secret weapon goes missing only to be found in present day by a U.S. agent in a Bulgarian ammunition dump. Then all hell breaks loose in this action-packed zombie war film.
From writer/director Valeri Milev comes “Code Red”, a zombie horror film coming out on DVD in Feb. 2014.
Starring Paul Logan (“Killers”, “Mega Piranha”, “The Terminators”), Manal El-Feitury, Mya-Lecia Naylor and Forbes KB (“Harry Brown”, “Made of Honor”), the horror film begins with World War II and Stalin creating a top secret nerve gas which went missing not long after the Battle of Stallingrad. All that existed was what happened when the nerve gas was used.
Fast forward, 70-years laters, in Bulgaria, an incident has occurred, something similar to what was mentioned in the Stallingrad nerve gas report.
The US military wants John (portrayed by Paul Logan) to check if the nerve gas is in a warehouse in Bulgaria and to obtain the gas and secure it at any cost.
John will be going to Bulgaria to investigate on military arms thefts and he is to meet Dr. Anna Bennett (portrayed by Manal El-Feitury).
Along with Private Harold Miller (portrayed by Julian Kostov), when they arrive, John meets with Dr. Anna Bennett’s daughter Miriam (portrayed by Mya-Lecia Naylor) and learns how Anna and her daughter are quite close. He also learns about a young man that she had treated had died, but all of a sudden, he came back alive and how he attacked and killed the nurse and so she killed him.
The military higher-ups took the body, while disciplining Dr. Bennett, accusing her of negligence and that the person was on drugs and that she misdiagnosed it. While Dr. Bennett tells John that the man was dead and he came back alive. And that she was blamed for the nurse and patient’s death.
As John meets with Bulgarian military, he tries to tell the Colonel that he needs to investigate the warehouses, that the international authorities want him to investigate. The Colonel tells John that he will not allow him to investigate the warehouses, only the base. And in return, John warns the Colonel of getting in his way of his investigation.
While John goes off to investigate the warehouse late at night, he is attacked from behind and is captured by Bulgarian soldiers and locked up.
Meanwhile, we are shown how Dr. Bennett’s daughter Miriam is bullied by her classmates because she is American and how she has had a troubled life in the area. Her mother tries to tell her that once she gets her job back, she will have more American friends.
While the two are sleeping, an explosion in the city causes everyone to evacuate and run from their homes. Unfortunately the chaos to escape, separates Dr. Bennett from her daughter and while Dr. Bennett is being sent to a sealed location, Miriam is stuck behind a gate.
Meanwhile, as Dr. Bennett along with Private Miller try to help those injured in the safe zone, Miriam is in the danger area, witnessing zombies attacking people.
As Private Miller and Dr. Bennett leave the safe zone to find her daughter, Miriam finds John and frees him. But with zombies all around the danger area, will John and Miriam survive? Will Miriam be reunited with her mother?
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Code Red” is presented in 1:78:1 aspect ratio and 5.1 Dolby Digital. Picture quality is good on DVD while dialogue and music are crystal clear but I do wish the soundtrack was much more immersive during the action sequences.
Subtitles are in English SDH.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Code Red” features the following special features:
- Making Of – (11:29) The cast talk about working on the movie and their thoughts on zombies, working with the cast and shooting in Bulgaria.
- WW2 Uncut – (12:38) The uncut World War 2 film footage.
- Behind the Scenes and Outtakes – (3:10) Featuring three behind the scenes: Aunt Koina, John is Attacked by Zombies, Vlad’s Rehearsal.
EXTRAS:
“Code Red” comes with a slipcover.
“Code Red” has the feel of a zombie horror/action telefilm.
With better production than some independent zombie horror films that I have seen, “Code Red” is an average zombie horror film that could have been better. Especially if it maintained the darker tone, violence and terror of its opening World War II sequence.
While there are scenes that are rather creepy, thanks to the makeup design and prosthetics for the zombies, I felt that it’s World War 2 introduction set the tone of a darker film, and I wanted to see more of it in the modern day storyline. Instead, the modern-day storyline was not too scary, not too violent and not too engaging.
Mother tries to search for her daughter in a bad area full of zombies, while little girl is with the main protagonist, tough guy and great with weapons who tries to protect the girl at all costs.
The film is quite banal and for what you watched for over 90 minutes, you could only hope that the film’s ending led to some closure for each of the characters but instead, it was an ending that was not at all enjoyable.
First, lets discuss the positives of “Code Red”. Paul Logan works as a heroic protagonist and possibly would have been a better selection as an ongoing protagonist if there was ever a sequel.
While makeup design was the film’s strongest point, especially how creepy and disgusting the zombies look, the biggest problem that I had with the film is how it became more of a search and rescue operation of a young girl who was separated from her mother.
There is too much emphasis on the child actor and the movie literally had to sit on her shoulders by bringing out the emotion from young actress, Mya-Lecia Naylor. And for a zombie horror film, you just don’t want to see a film of one defenseless, fearful young girl constantly crying or in fear throughout the film.
The World War II intro seemed darker, bloodier, violent and more interesting than the actual film set in modern Bulgaria.
With a zombie horror film, you expect gore and zombie attacks. But you also want to see protagonists who kick butt. There was a part of me that was wondering if filmmaker and writer Valeri Milev was influenced by the hit zombie video game “The Last of Us”. And why I loved the storyline for the game is that the young teen was blunt, screamed profanities and was ready to fight back along with the guy protecting her.
But in this film, the story just didn’t feel complete, the characters were limited and certain actions just didn’t seem right at all.
As for the DVD, picture quality is good as what one can expect on DVD and the 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack was not too immersive.  There are also quite a few special features included.
Overall, “Code Red” may not be a great zombie film but it’s not terrible either. It’s just an average direct-to-video zombie horror B film. If you are familiar with Paul Logan action/horror films, you know what to expect! But if you love independent zombie horror films, microwave some popcorn, sit back, watch and enjoy!
