What’s Going On With Code Red DVD?

We’ve lost far too many off-beat independent DVD labels that specialized in exploitation and horror cinema in recent years. Barrel Entertainment, Unearthed Films, Psychotronica, BCI/Navarre to name just a few—and now I’m afraid it looks like another is on the ropes.

Code Red, the absolutely great outfit that has put out first-class releases of flicks like “Don’t Go In The Woods,” “Sweet Sixteen,” “The Forest,” “Terror Circus,” , “Savage Streets, ”  and “Beyond The Door,” among other great titles, seems to be having some—ahhh—issues. Their release of the 1981 horror not-so-classic “Scream” was first pushed back, now cancelled altogether (at least according to Amazon), their release dates for the “Rareflix Triple Feature Collection” volumes four and five were pushed back and now they appear to have been cancelled as well, and their upcoming release of “Riot on 42nd Street” has also, sadly, been scrapped. Two other titles they had pre-listed, “Choke Canyon” and “Trapped!,” are officially “delayed” for the time being, but could suffer the same fate.

This is especially a drag to me because they have three upcoming releases that I’ve been waiting some time for—“The Strangeness,” “Weekend Murders,” and—at long last!—a proper, remastered version of the great “Messiah Of Evil.”  I hope these will all still see the light of day. Heck, I hope a lot of these cancelled and/or  delayed titles still somehow make it to the shelves, since I for one really dig the “Rarefilx” collections and think “Scream” is a pretty fun flick, too.

I know times are tough and people are tightening the metaphorical belt as far as their entertainment budgets are concerned, but I hope Code Red can weather this storm and pull through okay. They do an absolutely great job with their releases, really seem to care about their product and the fans, and understand the old axiom that a job worth doing is worth doing right. Too many companies flood the market with crummy, substandard releases. Code Red is not one of them. Let’s hope this is all just some temporary setback, and I hope all the horror and exploitation fans out there will buy their upcoming releases (assuming the come out) and help support the future survival of Code Red. We need them to stick around!