Deadcon review: A piece of software goes on a killing spree during a social media convention, in this very silly horror.
Image Courtesy of Clout Communications
Deadcon starts back in the 1990s where we meet a frustrated software developer sat alone in a hotel room. After failing to drum-up any business at an industry convention for his software Link Rabbit, the developer is ordered to terminate the program. Things aren’t that straight forward though as Link Rabbit has become sentient, and has its own ideas on how to get users. We then zip forwards in time to the present day and join a host of influencers whom are attending ‘View Con’. After some confusion of rooms, the biggest social media star, AKA Ashley, is relocated to the room first seen in the 90’s, one that hotel staff are wary of. Ashley soon works out why. Remember in Short Circuit when Johnny 5 needed ‘input’ he’d read a book or watch a film? Well when Link Rabbit, or Bobby as it prefers to be called, requires ‘input’ it basically means it wants to eat someone.
Deadcon isn’t quite as fun as it sounds. It has all the potential to be a B-movie classic, one of those films that you get a gang of friends around to watch and enjoy together. But something is missing from Deadcon, and rather than being a ‘so bad it’s good’ film, it just hovers above mediocre and mundane. The plot is confusing and too many of the characters either look or act the same, making it rather hard to tell who is who. We also begin with AKA Ashley and learn little about her backstory – she hates being famous – before she is unceremoniously dumped and we move onto following Megan Byte. It feels like they might be trying to pull off a Pyscho main character swap, but it doesn’t come off the same way. Rather than shocking, it’s just confusing. The film also falls into the pitfall of death after death syndrome. This happens when you meet a character only to watch them die. Not only does it become repetitive, but it’s also a little boring.
What Deadcon does well is in the handling of Bobby itself. Characters are attacked by an unseen presence, all of which are filmed in such a way that the viewer is reminded of that opening of A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Barbara Hershey’s attacks in The Entity. These fleeting moments still come off as sinister, even amongst all of the other silliness. A few brief moments of wonder sadly can’t resurrect this film from flat-lining.
Deadcon was reviewed at Arrow Video Frightfest 2019.
