''Dead Trigger'' is a 2017 American

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

action horror film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as ...

directed by Mike Cuff and Scott Windhauser, who were also both writers with Heinz Treschnitzer. The film is based on the mobile game of the same name. The film stars

Dolph Lundgren Hans "Dolph" Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957) is a Swedish actor, filmmaker, and martial artist. Lundgren made his acting debut in 1985 with a cameo in the List of James Bond films, James Bond film ''A View to a Kill''. Also that year, he h ...

Autumn Reeser Autumn Reeser (born September 21, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Taylor Townsend on the Fox series '' The O.C.'', Lizzie Grant on HBO's '' Entourage'', Katie Andrews on ABC's '' No Ordinary Family'', and Leslie Be ...

, Brooke Johnston, Chris Galya,

Romeo Miller Percy Romeo Miller Jr. (born August 19, 1989), also known by his stage name Romeo (formerly Lil' Romeo), is an American rapper, singer, actor and television personality. He gained fame as a rapper in the early 2000s after signing with his father, ...

and

Isaiah Washington Isaiah Washington IV (born August 3, 1963) is an American actor. Following a series of film appearances, he came to prominence as Dr. Preston Burke in ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2005-2007; 2014) Washington began his career collaborating with directo ...

. The film was released in a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

and through

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...

in the United States on May 3, 2019, by

Saban Films Saban Capital Group LLC is an American investment company based in Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the ...

, and was widely panned by critics.Rotten Tomatoes User reviews

Plot

The film follows a world ravaged by a deadly virus that turns people into zombies. Unable to halt the outbreak, the government creates a video game called Dead Trigger to identify skilled players capable of combating the real-life undead. Captain Kyle Walker leads a team of elite soldiers and gamers on a mission to locate a group of scientists who may have developed a cure for the virus ..

Cast

as Captain Kyle Walker *

as Tara Conlan *Brooke Johnston as Lieutenant Marchetti * Chris Galya as Chris Northon *

as Gerald "G-Dog" Jefferson *

as Rockstock *

Oleg Taktarov Oleg Nikolaevich Taktarov (; born 26 August 1967) is a Russian actor and retired mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. He was a practitioner of Sambo (martial art), Sambo and Judo and competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride ...

as Lieutenant Martinov *

Justin Chon Justin Jitae Chon (born May 29, 1981) is a South Korean-American actor and filmmaker. He has directed three films, Gook (film), ''Gook'' (2017), ''Ms. Purple'' (2019), and ''Blue Bayou (film), Blue Bayou'' (2021). He is also known for portrayin ...

as Daniel Chen *Natali Yura as Naomi Shika *

Luciana Carro Luciana Carro (born March 23, 1981) is a Canadian actress best known for her appearances on the television series ''Battlestar Galactica'', ''Caprica'', and ''Falling Skies'' and in movies such as '' Two for the Money'' and '' Dr. Dolittle 3''. ...

as Samantha Atkins *

Joel Gretsch Joel Gretsch (born December 20, 1963) is an American actor. His credits include ''The 4400'' (2004–2007), '' Taken'' (2002), '' V'' (2009–2011), ''Friends'' (1995), '' Saved by the Bell: The New Class'' (1994), '' JAG'' (1999), ''Silk Stalk ...

as General Conlan *James Chalke as Father Julian *Jeff Lam as Eric Green *

Bleona Bleona Nazmi Qereti (born May 14, 1985) is an Albanian-born American actress, singer-songwriter and producer. She became one of the Albanian names that shone in music and the Hollywood scene. Life Qereti is an American citizen, and, as of ...

as Natalie *

Tamara Braun Tamara Braun (born April 18, 1971) is an American actress known for her work on daytime television. She portrayed the role of Carly Corinthos on ''General Hospital'' from 2001–2005 and Reese Williams on ''All My Children'' from 2008 to 200 ...

as Gloria Russo *

Brandon Beemer Brandon Beemer is an American actor, best known for his role in the soap operas as Shawn-Douglas Brady in the NBC/Peacock soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'' (2006–08, 2016–2023) and Owen Knight in the CBS daytime series ''The Bold and the Bea ...

as CSU Agent Pierce *Tony Messenger as CSU Agent Sawyer *Seira Kagami as Lika *Alyona Chekhova as Nika *Michael Kupisk as Zack *Keil Oakley Zepernick as Subject Zero *Derek Boone as Lieutenant Krycek

Production

Writer-director Mike Cuff secured the film rights to the game in 2015 and began filming a live-action adaptation starring

and

in Mexico in May 2016. Two days into filming Cuff left the production and Scott Windhauser, who had rewritten the screenplay with Dolph Lundgren, finished the film. Madfinger Games withdrew their support for the film, as the approved script was altered so radically. Cuff and Madfinger had no further participation in the film.

Release

Theatrical

''Dead Trigger'' first screened at the 2017

Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (, Transliteration, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is a film festival first held in Moscow in 1935 and became regular since 1959. From its inception to ...

. The film was released theatrically and video-on-demand on May 3, 2019, by Saban Films/Lionsgate.

Reception

Critical response

Bobby LePire of ''

Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an American online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. ...

'' gave the film four stars out of ten. It has a 5% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

References

External links

* * {{rotten-tomatoes, dead_trigger 2017 films 2017 horror films 2017 science fiction action films 2017 science fiction horror films American films about revenge American action horror films American science fiction action films American science fiction horror films American zombie films Films set in Mexico Films set in Utah 2010s English-language films 2010s American films Live-action films based on video games English-language science fiction horror films English-language science fiction action films