SILVER-screen immortality awaits Rugbeians who transformed into zombies for a movie shoot in Brownsover two years ago – as the film has finally hit cinemas.
Action-horror film Redcon-1 – featuring actors from Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Peaky Blinders, Desperado, Rush and Coronation Street – has gone on limited release in UK cinemas.
Rugbeians can see the film at Coventry’s Showcase Cinema on Monday October 22 – and the movie’s director is pushing for a special showing at Cineworld Rugby.
Director Chee Keong Cheung told The Observer: “We’re in discussions with Cineworld to try and make something happen. A screening in Rugby is something I’m really keen on and we’ve been back and forth with the cinema.”
Parts of Brownsover came to a stand-still when the crew from production company Apocalypse Pictures descended on Copeland and Borrowdale in September 2016.
A Scorpion tank rolls into Copeland during the Redcon-1 shoot in 2016.Scores of Rugbeians featured as zombies in the scene, in which eight special forces soldiers arrive in a Scorpion tank and an armoured humvee to be confronted by a gang of the undead.
During the shoot, Chee told us he wanted to show the film in Rugby as a thank-you to those who took part.
He said: “People in Rugby have brought a really great community spirit. People have come out on to the streets to get involved, from residents, to the police – they’ve been amazing.
“It’s been really welcoming to have the community involved.”
Scores of Rugbeians lined up to become zombies in the film.Reviews for the film so far have been middling, but not without their positives.
In a two-star review for the Guardian, former Observer film critic Mike McCahill praised Chee Keong Cheung for bringing “a fanboyish glee to a gory post-apocalyptic rescue tale”.
He even singled out Observer editor Andy Morris’ brief role as an extra, saying: “I particularly enjoyed the zombie postie, found mid-round, rabidly tossing letters into long-abandoned gardens” – described by Chee as a “stand-out moment in the film”.
Geoffrey Macnab in the Independent said the film looked as if it must have been fun to make, adding: “The filmmakers’ enthusiasm levels never flag.”
Even notoriously hard-to-please critic Mark Kermode praised the film on Radio 5 Live’s Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review, saying: “The sheer scale of it is fairly impressive.”
Jennie Kermode of eyeforfilm.co.uk said: “Where it’s good it’s very, very good. The direction and editing are orders of magnitude better than you’d expect for a film of this ilk and deserve serious notice.”
Coventry’s Showcase Cinema will show Redcon-1, rated 18, on Monday October 22 at 8pm. The film is also being shown daily at Birmingham’s Vue Cinema.
Watch this space for news of a Rugby screening.
