‘Fight for your future.’
Reign of Chaos is a 2022 British fantasy action horror film about humans being turned into rabid creatures caused by an evil plague. Mankind can only be saved by three young women, descendants of a Goddess, with the power to stop Chaos’ evil.
Directed, co-produced and edited by Rebecca Matthews (The Gardener; Pet Graveyard) from a screenplay written by Tom Jolliffe (Jurassic Island; The Leprechaun’s Curse; Ouija Hosts; The Legend of Jack and Jill). Co-produced by Scott Jeffrey (director/producer of The Mutation; Bad Nun: Deadly Vows; Don’t Speak; Cupid; ClownDoll and many others).
The Proportion Productions movie stars Rebecca Finch (Shadowland; The Mermaid’s Curse), Marc Outbreak (I Am Hooligan), Peter Cosgrove (The Curse of Halloween Jack; Scarecrow’s Revenge; Winterskin; Evil Souls), Rita Di Tuccio and Kate Milner Evans.
Our review:
Would you settle for “Reign of Cha-“? instead. The film budget here does not appear to have had enough largesse for the extra syllable.
One dearly wishes that director Rebecca Matthews (late of such productions as Leprechaun’s Curse and Jurassic Island) had conjured even a jaggie-ridden 16-bit hellscape of CGI volcanoes or somesuch, to at least provide a kitsch-popalyptic backdrop to the infernal mayhem here. But fights unfold in dim rooms against a few gnomish marauders or in scenes inexpensively shot in deserted public commons and thoroughfares.
Opening narration informs that the evil spirit of Chaos (Mark Sears) customarily bedeviled the gods of Olympus. But in modern times those gods are all dead, so Chaos decides to smite Zeus’ favorites instead, the human race, using a worldwide plague. It turned people into vicious zombie-vampire creatures, leaving only scattered survivors.
Once outside of London is Nicole (Rebecca Finch), a young woman informed by hairy Chaos-fighter Rhodri (Peter Cosgrove, looking a bit like Billy Connolly) that she is descended from none other than the goddess Nike (or the athletic shoe?). Rhodri trains Nicole along with two other female battlers in what is planned as mankind’s last stand against London-based Chaos and his minions. In the big reveal at the end, the trio of heroines ultimately stride forth from the gymnasium in matched, form-fitting Emma Peel Avengers-style black catsuits Rhodri has inexplicably accessed.
Actors all take this stuff with more seriousness than it deserves, when a Roger Corman or Charles Band-esque sense of humor could have helped (and, sorry, male viewers, no nudity). Moody cinematography carries the material for a while, until one realises it is not going to get any better as it goes along.
The “urban fantasy” genre has lately proven a popular thing in paperback literature; Reign of Chaos kind of touches some of that, but a little bit more coin in the production values really might have made this one look less myth-conceived (I’m reaching for a Sir Terry Pratchet effect here and not doing well at all, but did ye like the line about Nike athletic shoes?).
Charles Cassady Jr, MOVIES and MANIA
Other reviews:
“Reign of Chaos is another solid, if unremarkable, British genre film. The obvious lack of budget hurts the execution of a more grandiose concept but look past that and this is still another win for Proportion Productions and low-budget British filmmaking as a whole.” 2.5/5 Nerdly
“I was hoping for some creative filmmaking and engaging characters to help make up for any discrepancies that minuscule budgets tend to create. Unfortunately what we get with Reign of Chaos is tired tropes, low-key action, and caricatures […] If you are going to hinge your entire plot on the abilities of your heroes to be a super-powerful fighting force, then you should cast some actors with some mad fighting skills!” Time Shifters Podcast
For YouTube reviews, the trailer and more movie info click the page 2 link below
