Red Krokodil Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.0

Red Krokodil Blu-ray Movie Review

Requiem for a nightmare.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 1, 2018

Yes, yes, it’s barely February, and yet I feel confident in stating that if you choose to watch Red Krokodil, you’ll be hard pressed to find a weirder viewing experience for the rest of this year, and perhaps a good deal beyond. There’s a lot of talk in the United States right now about a so- called opioid crisis, but it turns out our ostensible nemesis Russia has a drug catastrophe of its own, a synthetic concoction known as krokodil that is so deadly that it causes scales on the skin where addicts inject it, leading to a lizard like appearance and thus the name of the drug. The drug is in fact so toxic that it literally eats away at bone and other organic material from the inside of the user, unavoidably leading to death within just a few years. A kind of long text crawl opens this film with some startling data about krokodil and its use in Russia, along with some commentary that suggests various conspiratorial forces, including those of the pharmaceutical industry, are in league to keep the ingredients for the drug widely available, instead of allowing legislation that would make them harder to acquire. That would seem to suggest that screenwriter Francesco Scardone and director Domiziano Christopharo are out to make a “simple” anti-drug screed, and while there certainly is that element at play in Red Krokodil, there’s a whole post-apocalyptic context involved that tips the entire film over into some extremely odd territory. The film is quite visually arresting (at least for those who aren’t especially squeamish about both overt gore and a lot of full frontal male nudity), but dramatically it’s almost completely inert.

Aside from just a few moments of narrative voiceover by the unnamed main (and, aside from hallucinations, sole) character in the film (played by Brock Madson), Red Krokodil could qualify as a silent film, aside from sound effects and a rather interesting score by Alexander Cimini and Gabriele Verdinelli. Unfortunately, since the already pretty sparse and intermittent narration is by a drug addled individual, it provides very little actual “information”, other than that this man is lost in a kind of Groundhog Day-esque haze where he drifts in and out of consciousness, hallucinating wildly and taking a “break” every now and again to cook up a new brew of the patently disgusting looking krokodil, which he then injects into his quickly decomposing body.

A few exterior shots seem to suggest that what I assume is a fictional city in Russia has been devastated by some kind of nuclear catastrophe, and that the focal character of the film may well be the last man alive. It’s a kind of curious conceit, and I’m frankly not sure what the intent was, since in a kind of bizarre way, it only tends to pour “salt” into the (graphic) pre-existing wound of krokodil addiction. The whole post-apocalyptic aspect of Red Krokodil is weirdly gripping, but I’m not sure it really adds anything to the underlying story, such as it is.

That story plays out in a series of repetitive vignettes, almost all of which end with a fade out, something else that perhaps subliminally suggests this character is lost in the miasma of an experiential Boolean loop, where the general outlines stay the same and only small variances occur. Long swaths of the film are simple shots of this guy writhing about in his bed under the throes of the drug. “Relief” is granted when his hallucinations repeatedly take him into a gorgeous forest where he frolics naked among the trees. Interior manifestations of his literally dissolving mind are almost unavoidably reminiscent of Donnie Darko, as a huge rabbit headed creature appears in the apartment on a couple of occasions. Again — what exactly is the point?

I say this tongue perhaps only slightly in cheek, but perhaps the giant bunny is some kind of bizarre allusion to Easter and resurrection, since the guy is later overtly shown with a crown of thorns and there’s no denying that the whole presentational aspect of this guy is kind of like a haggard version of Jesus on the cross, with a swaddling of minimal clothes (at times, at least) and, ultimately, stigmata in the hands and feet.

That symbology may be inherently redolent, but does it really have any easily discernable meaning within the context of a survivor of a nuclear holocaust either medicating himself or destroying himself (or perhaps both) with an incredibly toxic substance? That general incoherence, combined with voiceover that some may find overly precious and scenes of a drug addled guy chasing imaginary dots of light or seeming to want to do more than merely talk to the trees (if I may reference Paint Your Wagon for a moment), may provoke unintended laughter in some viewers. Red Krokodil might have been extremely effective as a short, where its perspective arguably could have been focused and reinforced, rather than kind of dissipated, as it is here. As it stands, the movie is just kind of a bad trip.

Red Krokodil Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Red Krokodil is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Unearthed Films and MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. From a purely visual perspective, this is an often rather riveting film, and so for those who (again) don't mind some pretty gruesome close-ups of wounds and/or lots of full frontal male nudity, the aesthetic here is at least interesting. A number of different techniques are on display, with large swaths of the presentation being heavily desaturated, to the point that they almost look like black and white, while the forest hallucinations, to cite one example, have a much warmer and better suffused palette. But even within the desaturated sequences, there are a variety of slight skewings going on, as can be seen in several of the screenshots accompanying this review. Detail levels are generally high, at least when lighting conditions allow, and some of the close-ups are squirm inducing when various parts of the main character's body react to the toxicity of the drug he's using. The shots of the outside world are perhaps intentionally fake looking, almost like a painted backdrop at times. There are some noticeable if transitory occurrence of banding, typically in the lightest scenes, and at least occasionally during fade ins or fade outs.

Red Krokodil Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Red Krokodil features an LPCM 2.0 track that has only very sporadic voiceover and is otherwise largely comprised of a kind of schizophrenic score that alternates between modernist (sometimes electronic sounding) tropes and a rather lush, more Romantic sounding, set of string cues. There are occasional ambient environmental sounds that creep into the mix, both in the badly grimy apartment, or (more so) in the forest hallucinations. Fidelity is fine throughout, with no problems whatsoever to report.

Red Krokodil Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Alternate Music Ending (1080p; 2:30) offers a kind of Michael Nyman-esque piano accompaniment, sans the final cut's narration, for the end of the film.


• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 8:43)


• Photo Gallery (1080p; 2:47)


• Nuclear CGI Test (1080p; 1:14)


• The Trailer (1080p; 1:02) for Red Krokodil is included with a bunch of other trailers for Unearthed Films. Be aware that the trailer starts with some extremely graphic depictions of what look like real life victims of the drug's wasting proclivities.

Note: This is the first Blu-ray disc I've reviewed in quite a while that doesn't offer a Pop Up Menu. Also, the back cover's text probably better identifies the supplement above as Nuclear Test CGI, as well as listing a second trailer and a teaser as supplements that I sure as heck couldn't find anywhere (if any member buys this release and comes across them, let me know and I'll happily update the review).

Red Krokodil Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you're up for "something completely different", even if that means forsaking any actual meaning, Red Krokodil may well appeal to your Art House sensibilities, albeit with the now repeated warning that there are some elements on display here that may not sit that well with everyone. I personally found the film more interesting to think about than to actually watch. Technical merits are generally strong for those considering a purchase.