Reviewed by Adam Boult
Stars Roman Karpynec, Saul Linklater, Dominic Alan-Smith, Kevin Farran, Tara Keatley,
James Hutchins, Will Gilbey, Julian Gilbey, Nik Weston, Guy Corbishley | Written by Julian Gilbey
UK certification 18 | UK RRP £12.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 103 minutes | Directed by Julian Gilbey
The main thing about low budget thriller Reckoning Day (apart from the fact that it was made SEvEN years ago), its chief defining characteristic, is that it’s utterly terrible. Confused, confusing and atrociously acted, it has zero chance of ever making it into anyone’s top 10 film list.
Essentially an ultraviolent, John Woo-style guns ‘n’ gangsters-fest transplanted to the English countryside, its barely-there plot involves a laconic supercop (Evan Dando lookalike Karpynec) on the trail of a master criminal (supply teacher lookalike Linklater) who’s dealing in an ultra-powerful drug known as Unseen Force, said to be “five times more powerful than PCP”. However, the storyline comes across as merely padding, inserted between the many lengthy and elaborate shoot-outs almost as an afterthought.
The action sequences are, in fairness, competently handled, often visually impressive and there’s some hilariously superfluous gore in true B-movie tradition. However, this can’t disguise Reckoning Day’s many, many flaws, perhaps the worst of which being how seriously it takes itself. The only humour evident is the unintentional variety; a shame, as if they’d been a bit less po-faced, the makers could have had a camp, trashy classic on their hands.
EXTRAS ** An interview with director Gilbey, and an audio commentary with Gilbey and 2nd Unit director William Gilbey.