Redcon-1 is a new film directed by Chee Keong Cheung and is another entry in the Zombie Apocalypse genre. It’s perhaps unfortunate that I have seen quite a few Zombie films in my time, and so I can see that this one is nothing new. It resembles at various points other films which have handled the material far more elegantly.
One of the biggest issues I had was the narrative – it doesn’t seem to have one! The idea they are playing with is that the government, or some agency thereof, has developed a virus which will create unstoppable zombie soldiers – creatures that cannot be killed, which are zombies, but which retain the knowledge of who they were and how to function …
We follow a team of nameless human soldiers who are battling these creatures to try and rescue the scientist who created the virus … there’s a little girl who seems immune, and they try and get her to safety … along the way, the lead character – whose name I cannot remember … in fact I can’t recall the names of anyone in the film – becomes a zombie but they manage to deliver the girl, the scientist is killed, and that’s the end.
The plot is so vague, and the film is totally filled with fast moving action fight sequences, that there’s no room for much dialogue or explanation … it just rumbles onto the next battle, and the next …
If you like action, violence, blood and gore, and zombie hoards, then this film may tick all the boxes for you. Personally, I found it derivative and disappointing. Films like R
One final note, the film I was sent to review had a PREVIEW COPY DO NOT PIRATE message over the top third of the screen the whole time which was both annoying and very distracting … hard to watch something when you keep being thrown out of it by the lettering. This may have been part of the reason for my disappointment with the film – it really didn’t hold my attention. Why not put the message up every 30 mins or so for a minute? Or flag it on the corner of the screen … It’s a little like being asked to review a stage play where they keep the curtain half way down all the time.
Another entry in the Zombie Apocalypse genre
Movie title: Redcon-1
Movie description: After a zombie apocalypse spreads from a London prison, the UK is brought to its knees. The spread of the virus is temporarily contained but, without a cure, it’s only a matter of time before it breaks its boundaries and the biggest problem of all… any zombies with combat skills are now enhanced.
Date published: March 8, 2019
Director(s): Chee Keong Cheung
Actor(s): Oris Erhuero, Carlos Gallardo, Mark Strange, Joshua Dickinson
Genre: Action, Horror, Thriller
David J Howe, is the author and co-author of numerous books about the TV Show “Doctor Who”, as well as being a freelance writer and Editorial Director of Telos Publishing Ltd.
