Director: Jerry P. Jacobs
Screenplay: David C. Stauffer, George Ferris
Starring: Jeff Speakman, Angie Everhart, Stanley Kamel, Elya Baskin, Cassie Ray, Bart Braverman, Geoffrey Rivas, DeLane Matthews, Robert Miano
Country: USA
Running Time: 92 min (Blu-ray)
Year: 1999
Running Red, which is being released in a 2-Disc Blu-Ray/DVD Collector’s Mediabook Edition by Fokus Media, is one of the later PM Entertainment films, before the organisation was bought by The Harvey Entertainment Company in 2000. Output slowed to a stop in the couple of years that followed.
The film centres around Gregori Wallace (Jeff Speakman), an ex-KGB agent who moved to the US after an operation resulted in the death of his brother. In America, Gregori (now Greg) lives a harmonious family life with his wife Katherine (Angie Everhart) and daughter.
However, Greg’s past comes back to haunt him in the form of Alexi (Stanley Kamel), who orders Greg to kill three people. They initially tempt him back by saying he will have the chance to assassinate the man who killed his brother. Later, however, when Greg refuses to continue to do their bidding, Alexi kidnaps his family. Greg submits to his fate and re-emerges in the shadow of his past.
Many cineasts will dismiss straight-to-video action fare like Running Red and I wouldn’t argue against their criticisms. Films like this, made by studios like PM Entertainment, can be formulaic and simplistic. They aren’t going to win any awards for their scripts or performances either. However, there’s something that continues to draw me in.
Call me nostalgic, but I miss straightforward action movies like this, where they don’t overstuff the narrative and, more importantly, it all feels real. The CGI-heavy, over-graded blockbusters we tend to get these days have their appeal, but they don’t thrill me in the same way as watching actual cars collide on screen, stunt performers diving from real explosions, and seeing real squibs going off when the bullets start to fly.
Even when the seams start to show, which can often be the case when older films get remastered in HD or 4K, I still prefer it over CGI. In Running Red, for instance, when a factory/power plant explodes early on in the film, you can see it’s a model in a wide shot, but that doesn’t matter. It only reminds me that the filmmakers actually blew something up to get the shot. It helps you feel the heat from the flames.
Running Red has quite a few standout chases and fights, and has a nice spread of action too. The film is perfectly paced. It’s not an end-to-end barrage of mayhem, but it maintains a nice balance between drama and thrills.
Our star, Jeff Speakman, has genuine fighting chops too. He trained in Kenpō (a.k.a. Kempo) and Gōjū-ryū, a Japanese variant of Karate. Between 2008 and 2018, he was even the president of the International Kenpō Federation.
It’s not all about the fighting and action though. The story, whilst nothing wholly original, has some nice touches. It’s a fun concept to have the hero of an American action movie be a secret former Russian agent.
Also, whilst the early family scenes are a little corny, they do have a cheesy charm about them and Speakman makes a believable family man.
So, all-in-all, Running Red is another solid, entertaining romp from PM. It throws in a few twists to an otherwise generic tale, whilst delivering the action that fans of the studio expect.
Film: 
Running Red is out on 30th September in a 2-Disc Blu-Ray/DVD Collector’s Mediabook Edition, available with two different covers or in a special signature edition, released by Fokus Media (you can order it on the Fokus Media website or you might be able to find it on various import sites). The transfer is strong, with pleasing colours and clear details. I spotted a couple of minor grading inconsistencies, but this is likely as originally presented. I’ve used screengrabs throughout this review to give you an idea of how it looks, though these have been compressed.
You get a choice of German or English language audio options (both 2.0 stereo). I opted for English, and I thought it sounded a little weak at times, but it’s serviceable enough, overall. There were some odd things going on with the music at the start too, but I think that may have been intentional. German or English subtitles are also available on the disc.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
– Interviews with: Jeff Speakman, Ken Blakey
– Original Trailer
– Picture Gallery
– Poster Gallery Jeff Speakman
Jeff Speakman is interviewed about Running Red. He speaks for just over half an hour about the film. He takes the film’s story and themes more seriously than you might expect, getting a little political and philosophical. He also discusses martial arts.
There’s also a short interview with Ken Blakey, who talks about the film and working with Jeff Speakman.
You also get a booklet included with the package. This is in German, but you can always use Google Translate or similar if you can’t read the language. It’s nicely illustrated too.
Overall, this is a decent package. It’s not overloaded with extras, but the Speakman interview is good and the booklet is valuable. With the film being well worth a watch too, it’s easy to recommend to PM fans.
Disc/package: