This sci-fi action flick takes place in the not-so-distant future, where a small band of soldiers are deployed to a hostile planet to investigate the malevolent deeds of an evil alien race called the “Ma'hars”. To their dismay, they discover that the Ma’hars have developed a way to create creatures based on human fears and mythology. In their struggle to survive, the soldiers find themselves in a vicious battle against zombies, vampires and werewolves.

While some people may find this movie intolerably cheesy, others may find it curiously entertaining. For such a low budget film, I found several redeeming qualities myself. The basic plot is simple, but the overall story is artful and creative. The film makes the most of its diminutive financial resources and manages to deliver a movie with decent special affects and effective cinematography. In addition, the action sequences are dynamic and well-choreographed.

The overall acting was pretty good, with the exception of one out of place character named “Tooks” (played by Gillian Leigh). Tooks, who is supposed to be a military pilot, looks like a bleached-blonde party-girl and wears so much makeup that she looks more like a clown than a soldier. And to make matters worse, Leigh’s acting performance is so wooden and dry it rises to the level of annoyance.

There are a couple unbelievable story developments that are hard to ignore as well, including an implausible scene where the soldiers fend off a swarm of killer cockroaches with gunfire.

Nonetheless, the movie managed to entertain me for 92 minutes and I felt that it was worth the price of the rental. To enjoy this film, a person will need to have a moderate tolerance for low-budget science fiction and the ability to overlook an occasional cheesy scene. But if you like sci-fi and have such a tolerance, Recon 2020 might be worth a watch.