Military enemy maximizes mayhem milking menacing machinations of imminent malice manipulating many mutually flummoxed community members when mystery man combatant with machine guns, ammunition, and immortality manages to maintain the madness immaculately.

Red Ghost: Nazi Hunter is a Russian film with English dubbing except for the subtitled German dialogue. Set in 1941, it follows a group of Russian soldiers trying to find their Nations’ strongholds after the Nazi-German army broke the Soviet Red Army’s defence, therefore, surrounding west of Vyazma outside of Moscow near the town Medyn. Meanwhile, the Nazis are searching for a mysterious figure only known as the Red Ghost, an alleged one in man army, posing a serious threat to their regime. Legend has it, he’s technically half-man/half-ghost, although he behaves more like a zombie in my opinion. Therefore, making him a relentlessly unstoppable killing machine. So much so a special unit is tasked to stop his path of carnage.

It’s written by Andrei Bogatyryov, Vyacheslav Shikhaleyev, and Pavel Abramenkov. The Russian soldiers I mentioned battle Nazi-Germans and brutal Russian winter weather seek sanctuary on an abandoned, isolated farm when trying to rescue a pregnant woman from certain death at the hands of the enemy. When surrounded, the troop receives help from the mythical, methodical Red Ghost. It’s a gripping story moving on the momentum of the character’s strength as opposed to relying on action and gore. Some don’t believe one man could do that alone so it’s interesting to see that constant debate. It makes it believable when skeptics voice their opinions because that’s the realism of any scenario. Not everyone would believe he exists.

The ensemble cast is a colourful group of characters with unique personalities. They share anecdotes about what their lives were like before the war, giving them some context. They have unique perspectives shown by how they led different lives before the dreadful endeavour. Some have ongoing consistently funny running gags based on their personality adding levity to a heavy topic. For example, one has a short temper and one has a vodka obsession. The humour never cheapens dramatic moments nor does it ever feel out of place.

Director Andrei Bogatyryov shoots grand battle sequences, excellently choreographed and directed on large-scale set pieces with impressive stunt work. Long takes are utilized so the editing doesn’t feel choppy or disorienting. All the intense action is clearly visible. The gore is gruesome with good practical effects used over CGI, a personal preference. Not many horror elements, aside from the titular character, are prevalent unless you include the real-life horrors of war. Great costume designs really capture the aesthetic of the time. Little details like this make all the difference for period pieces. He uses long sweeping wide shots exhibiting the vastness of the gorgeous Russian countryside.

I like the thunderous, ambitious score. The strings combined with the horns on top of that percussion section are both powerful and memorable.

Overall, Red Ghost: Nazi Hunter is a skillfully directed period piece and epic war story full of pulse-pounding action with a great cast, displaying beautifully extravagant set designs, and costumes, and snow capped landscapes contradictory to the horrors that come with war and the undead lone wolf picking them off one by one. It’s written with a swift enough pace to it’s never lagging in between fight scenes using its characters to the best of their ability. The lack of horror components is where it loses points. I’d recommend it to history enthusiasts, not so much to horror fans. And remember, never eat yellow snow….or crimson coloured in this case.

7 Out of 10