Redcon-1 (2018) – Film Review

Director: Chee Keong Cheung
Cast: Oris Erhuero, Carlos Gallardo, Mark Strange
Certificate: 18

by Roger Crow / @RogerCrow

How much you like this ambitious mix of 28 Days Later and The Raid depends on how much you like watching zombies being dispatched in a variety of ways. There are also elements of Paul WS Anderson’s Resident Evil saga, a film series which became more nonsensical and slick with each passing incarnation.

I have to give co-writer/director Chee Keong Cheung and the filmmakers full marks for effort. The budget might have been tight, but harnessing the support of fans who love dressing up as extras and awaiting their few seconds of gory glory before being killed off is a great idea.

“Epic action”

On Blu-ray it looks great, and the extras, including an obligatory making of documentary, should keep genre fans happy. While it’s good to see the ever reliable Marc Baylis among the supporting cast (you may have read my interview with him elsewhere), it’s also good to see Carlos Gallardo, the man who helped Robert Rodriguez on the road to stardom with early 1990s Mexican Western El Mariachi, and its bigger budget Antonio Banderas remake, Desperado.

The plot is simple enough: eight Special Forces soldiers embark a suicide mission to rescue a boffin from a city ruled by the walking undead. Katarina Leigh Waters adds glamour as an unlikely soldier, bumping off decaying bad guys with little effort, while martial arts veterans such as Mark Strange ensure the fight scenes are suitably impressive.

I like more story and tension than Redcon-1 has to offer, but if you fancy almost two hours of epic action horror, then this shouldn’t tax the brain too hard.
7/10