In the vast, often chaotic landscape of low-budget cinema, few studios have mastered the art of the mockbuster quite like The Asylum. The studio has pumped out a seemingly endless stream of derivative films designed to cash in on the popularity of big-budget blockbusters, usually by releasing them mere weeks before the legitimate counterparts hit screens. Among this catalogue of notoriously exploitative and derivative productions, however, one might occasionally stumble upon a rare gem that, at least at the beginning, looks like it could be something decent. Such a rare example can be found in the 2007 post-apocalyptic action horror film I Am Omega, a project that, while far from perfect, offers a fascinating glimpse into the creative limitations and occasional strengths of independent filmmaking.
Fans of the post-apocalyptic genre cinema will find the premise of I Am Omega instantly recognisable from the title alone. The film is a clear spiritual successor to Richard Matheson’s 1954 classic post-apocalyptic novel I Am Legend and its second film adaptation, the 1971 film The Omega Man. The movie was, in typical “mockbuster” fashion which is legendary for The Asylum, produced and brought to video stores shortly before the launch of Matheson novel’s last and arguably the most successful adaptation, the 2017 film I Am Legend. In a clever bit of cross-promotion, the film even features Mark Dacascos, an actor best known for his work in the 1990s B-film action scene, in the lead role.
The narrative begins with a disturbing scene that immediately establishes a tone of dread. We witness a young boy (Joschus Schlegel), and his mother trying to run when they are caught and apparently taken out by zombies. It is later revealed to be a dream of the protagonist, a man named Renchard, played by Mark Dacascos. Renchard is a special forces veteran who lives alone somewhere in the vicinity of Los Angeles, some time after the city, and possibly the rest of the world, have been overrun by cannibalistic zombies. The film does an effective job of setting up Renchard’s daily routine of venturing out to find supplies and trying to avoid zombies. This routine is interrupted when, against all odds, he receives a video messaging invitation on his computer. At first, he rejects it as a hallucination, but the person on the other side is a woman named Brianna (Jennifer Lee Wiggins). She explains that she belongs to an isolated mountain community of survivors known as Antioch, and that she got stranded in Los Angeles seeking supplies. She asks Renchard’s help to leave the city. Renchard initially refuses, because he has spent a long time setting up bombs at various strategic locations in the city, hoping to destroy the zombies, and the bombs are about to go off in a short time.
Before he can make a decision, a van carrying two men – Vincent (Geoff Mead), and Mike (Ryan Lloyd) – arrives. They claim they belong to Antioch and that Brianna is important, because her blood appears to possess a compound that makes her immune to zombie infection. They force Renchard at gunpoint to join them, and he leads them through the sewers, where zombies attack and kill Mike. Renchard eventually splits up from Vincent, finds Brianna, and the two of them race to leave the city. When Vincent finds them, he shoots Renchard, captures Brianna, and tells Renchard that he actually likes this new world and that Brianna’s serum could bring back the old ways he hates. Renchard, against all odds, manages to start a new car and catch up to Vincent, killing him in the process. Brianna helps him get a Corvette, and the two of them escape from the city just before the bombs go off. Unbeknownst to them, one of the zombies has apparently survived the explosions.
Visually and atmospherically, the film is a mixed bag. Obviously made for a pittance of money, I Am Omega looks rough around the edges, but director Griff Furst shows at least some skill in managing his meagre resources. The first part of the film, which sets up the world the protagonist lives in, is the strongest. It even allows Mark Dacascos to show some acting range by displaying the effects of years of loneliness and daily zombie-killing stress on someone’s mental health. The film also uses the opportunity to show Dacascos’s martial arts skills in a scene where his character has to dispatch zombies. The lack of music and the use of silence contribute significantly to the atmosphere, just as the film’s desaturated colours, almost at monochromatic levels, reinforce the sense of a decaying, dead world.
However, it is only when the protagonist has to deal with other human beings that this film begins to fall apart. Geoff Meed, who is also the film’s screenwriter, portrays his character, Vincent, as some kind of crazed “boss level” archvillain. His attempts at cynical dialogue only serve to remind the audience of some major plot holes in the script, such as the question of why anyone would think that using apparently conventional explosives in a city the size of Los Angeles would solve the problem of a zombie pandemic that has overrun the rest of the world. This segment also highlights the lack of budget in the over-the-top scene where Mike and Vincent destroy Renchard’s home with a grenade launcher, but the explosion and the actual destruction are never actually shown on screen.
Things somewhat improve with some delightfully over-the-top scenes near the end, when Vincent, after having Brianna tied up, puts the dead body of his friend Mike between her legs. Yet this is only a reminder that this film would have worked much better if the same level of outrageousness was employed from the beginning rather than being saved for the finale. Star Trek fans would probably appreciate this film for using the legendary Vasquez Rocks location in the scene that depicts the protagonist’s mental state, serving as a subtle nod to the franchise.
While I Am Omega is not a complete waste of time, it is definitely below the levels of the three other, official adaptations of Matheson’s novel: the 1964 Italian film, the 1971 Charlton Heston film, and the 2007 Will Smith blockbuster. It lacks the production values, the script coherence, and the narrative ambition of these official films. However, for the most curious fans of exploitation cinema, it offers a watchable experience that captures the spirit of the genre, even if it ultimately falls short of its lofty inspiration.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
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