With the popularity of the Walking Dead (2010), it would seem that Zombies are now the go to monster for low budget filmmakers. You only have to go into any high street DVD retailer to see the plethora of low budget DTV efforts, all with similar titles and covers that promise a great Zombie horror but mostly never delivering on that promise.
This brings us to Redcon-1 (2018), a martial arts/zombie movie hybrid from director Chee Keong Cheung. Wearing its influences clearly on its sleeve, with elements from the likes of Dawn of the Dead (1978), Escape from New York (1981), and The Raid (2011) all in evidence. With this in mind, Redcon-1 manages to be much more enjoyable than expected. There are still the expected drawbacks that come with low budget film making, but the amount of gore, gunplay and martial arts should keep most action fans happy.
The film doesn’t waste it’s time getting to the action, giving the briefest introduction to our characters and their situation. After the outbreak of a deadly virus, a group of special-forces operatives have to travel into the heart of London to extract a doctor that may be the only one able to cure the epidemic. The virus has turned the population into an army of blood crazed zombies, with our team of heroes having to fight their way through the city to reach their goal.
These zombies aren’t the typical slow moving types found in the classic George A. Romero zombie movies. Rather these are fast moving killing machines, akin to those found in 28 Days Later (2002) and the Dawn of the Dead (2004) remake.
There is also the problem that they are starting to develop, remembering elements from their past lives. For example, some still remember their liking for cocaine or watching pornography. Others remember their fight training and how to use weapons. This may appear silly at some points, but it does set Redcon-1 apart from other zombie movies, and where else can you see a zombie brandishing a set of nunchucks.
This is director Chee Keong Cheung’s most ambitious and well realised film to date. Clearly a fan of martial arts cinema, his previous two films were both well-intentioned but not totally successful. His first, Underground (2007) was a martial arts tournament movie that harkened back to the action films of the 80’s and 90’s. The martial arts sequences were good, but the clear low budget let the film down, with the use of cheap looking digital video being a major detractor.
His next feature, Bodyguard: A New Beginning (2008) had similar issues, with it also being shot on cheap looking digital video. Still, it got a number of elements right, with Cheung showing his clear love of Hong Kong cinema by casting a number of classic Hong Kong actors, such as the great Richard Ng and my own personal favourite Shing Fui-on. It also gave martial artist Vincent Sze a rare leading role, getting a chance to show off his skills in a number of well-choreographed fight scenes.
Like his first two features, Redcon-1 was also shot digitally. Thankfully digital cameras have come a long way since his last movie, with Redcon-1 having some beautifully shot images interspersed amongst its many action scenes.
If any complaint could be levied at Cheung is that he is over ambitious, with the films running time being a major issue. At just under two hours, there are a number of scenes that could have been trimmed to make the pace tighter. There is one too many scenes of characters explaining the situation, when we have already been shown visually, as well as having unnecessary flashbacks cut into the middle of scenes.
The other issue is one that plagues most low budget action movies, and that is the use of shoddy CGI. Thankfully, Cheung prefers to use mostly practical effects during the action scenes, with the gore and makeup being of a high quality. There is no shortage of squibs exploding and entrails littering the screen. It is only the fake gunfire that lets the action down, with muzzle flashes being added digitally in post.
Other than the mistake of using digital gunfire, the one clear area Cheung excels at is the action. The film is filled with enough shootouts and hand to hand fights to satisfy any action junkie. With close quarters as well as open ground combat, the action is varied. Every member of the team is given a chance to shine, although it is apparent that certain cast members are more competent at action than others.
Local viewers may notice that the majority of the film wasn’t actually filmed in London, where the story takes place. This shouldn’t really detract from your overall enjoyment. It was interesting to notice quite a few Scottish landmarks in there.
In front of the camera, Oris Erhuero makes a good impression as Captain Stanton. Essentially the films lead character, Stanton has a personal stake in the mission, with his pregnant wife being one of the first casualties of the virus. Erhuero has a martial arts background, and takes part in the majority of the films action scenes. His American accent may slip slightly, but not enough to detract from his performance.
The rest of the team, made up of the likes of Carlos Gallardo, Katarina Leigh Waters and Martyn Ford don’t get as much screen time as Erhuero, with them being more character types than actual characters. Gallardo, who is most famous for being the lead in Robert Rodriguez’s El Mariachi (1992), does get to add some small character flourishes, with him even getting to sing and play the guitar at one point.
Other than Gallardo, the only other member of the team that actually stands out from the rest is Mark Strange’s Lieutenant Perez. This could be down to the fact that Strange co-wrote the film, alongside Steve Horvath and director Chee Keong Cheung. Perez is one of the more interesting characters in the film, with it never being fully clear whose side he’s on.
I first became aware of Mark Strange when a UK magazine ran an article on the making of his movie Displaced (2006). Although Displaced didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped, it was clear that Strange was a talent to watch.
Director Chee Keong Cheung, who was an associate producer on Displaced, went on to cast him in a main role in Underground as well as a smaller role in his next feature. On both films Strange also worked behind the scenes, assisting in choreographing the action. He does the same with Redcon-1, this time being promoted to main fight choreographer.
Surprisingly, Strange doesn’t have as many fight scenes as expected, although he does have the most memorable one, with him taking on a basement full of zombies by himself. Strange and Cheung work together to make sure that the audience is able to discern what is happening during the fight scenes, with no overuse of shaky cam obscuring the action. Strange can next be seen co-starring with Scott Adkins in the upcoming Avengement (2019).
Aside from some budget issues, Redcon-1 turned out to be a perfectly enjoyable action movie that should additionally satisfy the horror crowd. Director Chee Keong Cheung has been gradually upping his game with each feature, and I look forward to seeing what he comes up with next.
Rating: 3/5
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