The arrival of an amnesiac patient in a psychiatric hospital somehow frees a mad doctor, who was shot and entombed with his fiendish experiments in an abandoned wing of the asylum 20 years b... Read allThe arrival of an amnesiac patient in a psychiatric hospital somehow frees a mad doctor, who was shot and entombed with his fiendish experiments in an abandoned wing of the asylum 20 years before.The arrival of an amnesiac patient in a psychiatric hospital somehow frees a mad doctor, who was shot and entombed with his fiendish experiments in an abandoned wing of the asylum 20 years before.
Stephen Gregory Foster
- Christian Meyers
- (as Steffen Gregory Foster)
Jack A. Sunseri
- Head Orderly Jensen
- (as Jack Sunseri)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOn the Code Red dvd release of the film, lead actress Cheryl Lawson reveals why her character spends a portion of the movie in just a tiny tank top and bikini panties. Apparently Lawson felt the normal-sized hospital gown made her look large, so she cut part of it off. The more her outfit was washed, the more the gown shrank and the underwear became tighter, much to the delight and amusement of the film crew.
- GoofsBoom mic visible on left side of frame in wide screen version during earthquake sequence when camera tilts down from ceiling into hallway.
- Quotes
Sister Clair: The shadows draw near! Make your confession!
- Alternate versionsThe U.S. release was trimmed of some gore to obtain an "R" rating.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Dead Pit: Interview with Brett Leonard (2008)
Featured review
Fun insane zombie crossed mad doctor style late 80s low-budget horror with hazy atmospheric lighting of illuminating blues and an otherworldly music score sure to drive anyone crazy. Think along the lines of someone banging pots and in doing so, capturing the suffocating madness of the institute. One of those - forget about making sense of it too, as with little thought in its narrative and visuals, it's hellish abandonment throws everything at you, but the kitchen sink.
After a minor quake breaks a seal of a hidden tomb in the cellar of a mental hospital. A surgeon returns from the dead as a demonic figure (who can make his eyes glow red whenever he wants). Still dressed up in his scrubs, and making sure he's wearing rubber gloves (a hard to break habit I guess?). He goes about continuing his horrific experiments on the physical brain and its connection to the mind on the unknowing staff and patients. While also scarring, and constantly showing himself (even waving) to a new patient that suffers from amnesia and who spends quite lot of time wandering the corridors in a revealing attire (that comes to the forefront in one daft dream sequence), or simply freaking out. You can see why they casted Cheryl Lawson. Her character's amnesia and hypnosis sittings organized by the head doctor (Jeremy Slater who comes out the best of the lot) are a tool for a predictably contrived plot twist that shouldn't come as a surprise.
What did though was the excessive, delirious third act, as the surgeon's ghouls come out from a glowing green pit and go on a gory rampage tearing people apart. The special effects (miniature model sets) and makeup do provide some killer goodies at the backend, like open brain surgery and skin melting. Did the latter make sense, not really, but nothing does here.
After a minor quake breaks a seal of a hidden tomb in the cellar of a mental hospital. A surgeon returns from the dead as a demonic figure (who can make his eyes glow red whenever he wants). Still dressed up in his scrubs, and making sure he's wearing rubber gloves (a hard to break habit I guess?). He goes about continuing his horrific experiments on the physical brain and its connection to the mind on the unknowing staff and patients. While also scarring, and constantly showing himself (even waving) to a new patient that suffers from amnesia and who spends quite lot of time wandering the corridors in a revealing attire (that comes to the forefront in one daft dream sequence), or simply freaking out. You can see why they casted Cheryl Lawson. Her character's amnesia and hypnosis sittings organized by the head doctor (Jeremy Slater who comes out the best of the lot) are a tool for a predictably contrived plot twist that shouldn't come as a surprise.
What did though was the excessive, delirious third act, as the surgeon's ghouls come out from a glowing green pit and go on a gory rampage tearing people apart. The special effects (miniature model sets) and makeup do provide some killer goodies at the backend, like open brain surgery and skin melting. Did the latter make sense, not really, but nothing does here.
- lost-in-limbo
- Apr 14, 2020
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Dead Pit
- Filming locations
- Granett/Rideout Engineering's Special Effects Studio, Santa Cruz, California, USA(special effects sequences)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $350,000 (estimated)
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