Deadcon - review (Netflix)

It is twenty-twenty and a new decade. My reviewing output has slowed of late due to a few factors; working a lot more. Christmas. Not visiting the cinema that much and, considering I generally review Netflix output, a paucity of anything that I found remotely interesting over the festive period on the streaming service.

I have watched a few things this year. The entire second season of Titans dropped and I blasted through that in a few days. Excellent. Also, the riveting Don’t F*** With Cats, a compelling three-part documentary about ordinary people tracking a psychopath after he films himself killing a cat. Though I occasionally review a season of a show, I tend to stick to films.

So, as we pass the halfway point of January, I am attempting to get back into suffering - sorry, watching - films on Netflix. To this end, I found myself watching a film that had garnered a very generous two point eight on IMDB. Deadcon is an abomination. It is seventy-eight minutes of staggering mediocrity.

The story, such as it is, begins with some god-awful scene set in 1984. John Althaus (Aaron Hendry) is holed up in his hotel room, begging his employers not to close down his computer project. He gets short shrift. He has come up with, pre-social media, a program to connect people through messaging, LinkRabbit. When a message from someone called Bobby (Judah Mackey) flashes up on his screen, John replies.

Fast forward to the present and several social media influencers are descending on ViewCon, a social media fan weekend. Ashley (Lauren Elisabeth) is a popular influencer at the event, as is Megan (Claudia Sulewski) and Mark Dohner, who plays himself. I am obviously in the wrong demographic for this film as I have no idea who Mark Dohner is. Think he is a real ‘social media influencer).

Anyway, after a hotel room mix up, Ashley gets put in into room 2210a by the hotel manager, even as the reception staff tries to protest. The manager shoos him away. The room is refrigerator cold and looks as though it has not been redecorated since the eighties.

In the same hotel, Megan is having a clandestine meeting with another social media star, Dave, (Keith Machekanyanga), who comes to see if she has broken up with her boyfriend. She leaves him alone in the room as she has to go to an event. At the event, Ashley is meeting and greeting her fans and taking pictures with them.

When she returns to her room, it is completely wrecked. Ashley confesses to a friend that she is being Dave. Ashley’s lights go out in the room. She calls reception to get the bulbs changed. The reception guy does not want to change the lights, refusing to enter the room. He gives her the bulbs. Ashley gets attacked by some invisible force.

Dave goes to see Megan again and ask her if he can film them getting amorous. She says no. He secretly films them anyway. The next day, a weird Ashley joins the convention. Her manager, Kara (Mimi Gianopulos) thinks she has been partying too much. Ashley does not have shoes on.

Megan is surprised by her boyfriend, Ricky (Lukas Gage). She immediately informs Dave that he has turned up. She leaves him in the hotel room and goes to a party. Dave is reviewing his secret filming and sees Bobby on the tape. He truest contact Megan but her phone is in her bag.

Ricky, who is getting ready for the party, gets killed by a balloon cord. Dave investigates the little boy Bobby and finds out about John Althaus. He was suspected of kidnapping and killing several children back in 1984. He tries to contact Megan but she tells him they will talk tomorrow.

Dave goes to the hotel and tries to show Megan the film but the phone screen breaks. Megan is angry that he filmed them and refuses to go with him. Megan falls asleep and Dave falls asleep in a chair, not wanting to leave her alone. They are both awakened by a sound. Bobby returns and they both see him. Megan gets snatched by an invisible force. Dave goes after her and is attacked by Ashley. The manager lets Lauren (Jordyn Yarker), another social media star into the suite. The end.

Deadcon is awful and I am being kind. The story is nonsense, it is unoriginal in both execution and premise, the acting is bad, the script is bad, it is all bad. Nothing in the film works with the complete vagueness of the story not helping at all. Bobby, who started as a name on a computer, turning out to be some random little homicidal child was stupid.

The film is seventy-eight minutes long but nobody dies until minute fifty-five and it is the completely pointless Ricky. His death also turns out to be the most gruesome in the film, the cord of a ballon garrotting him. That is as horrific as this ‘horror’ film gets. The rest of the ‘horror’ comprises of dark rooms and shadows and the damned kid appearing randomly.

Deacon, written by Scotty Landes and directed by Caryn Waechter, is a project that I for one cannot understand how it got made. There is no way anyone reads the script for this and thinks it is going to work. Somehow, one hundred thousand dollars was wasted on this tripe. Everything in this film is poor. The script is poor, the directing is poor, the sets are poor, the acting…you get my drift.

Do not watch this film. It is the first film I have watched this year and I already think it has made my top ten worst films of twenty-twenty. You have been warned.