Shadowzone

The first thing you need to know about 'Shadowzone' is that it's a blatant rip-off of a dozen other films from the same sci-fi/horror genre. The first that comes to mind is 'Alien,' but there are elements of plenty others in there, too.

It doesn't have much of a budget, which is a shame because there is a decent idea buried somewhere in it. What lets it down is that there isn't enough invested in the characters. Every one is a total stereotype and you know who'll be monster-fodder and who's going to make it from the word go.

It's about an investigator who does to a top secret military base to investigate the death of a worker. Once there, he finds the scientists are dabbling in doorways to other dimensions (never a recipe for 'happily ever after'). Then, we have a monster who - remains relatively unseen - as it bumps them off, one by one.

The acting isn't great, the special effects are stretched and what tension is pretty much directly lifted from Alien (check out the 'motion tracker' type scene which is almost totally taken from the scene in Alien where Ripley observes Dallas while he treks through the vents, plus the music which sounds almost identical).

It's not the worst 'monster-munching' movie out there. There are some nice moments here and there, but the overall vibe of 'seen it all before' outweighs what little good is there.

Experiments in sleep have unleashed a monster in an underground government laboratory. A good B-movie cast (Louise Fletcher, Shawn Weatherly, James Hong) and great special effects (for what they must have cost) allow the suspense that is built to sustain til the finish. Sci-fi & horror fans should not be disappointed. Fletcher is first-rate.

SHADOWZONE was, I believe, Full Moon's first picture. It's well done on a low budget and I was satisfied with most of it. I actually first got interested in this film when I saw the coming attraction for it on the FRIDAY THE 13th PART VIII video. The deaths were cool, the acting was good, and the plot was commendable, especially considering what we're getting from Full Moon nowadays. This film was not an ALIEN rip-off. I read somewhere that this was an ALIEN rip-off and was surprised as I found really no similarities. Also of note, there is no Full Moon Videozone included with this film. No. Instead, we have a "talking" full moon! **1/2out of****I watched this at about 12:00AM, and then watched it again at 7:00PM. I can definitely tell you that this film is more effective if watched late at night. It's more fun too.

Ah, the 80s, when Full Moon/Empire/Whatever movies still had a budget and were actually watchable. This one does it's best to remind the viewer that he has seen this story countless times. However, "Shadowzone" is competently made and directed, the cast is o.k. and the special effects are EXCELLENT for what they must have cost. It delivers the gory goods, too (nice exploding head...). Monster movie fans will surely get a kick out of this...

It's always a lot of fun to encounter a horror film with lousy production values and an overall shortage of talent, but simultaneously an incredibly ambitious plot to compensate for all that! "Shadowzone", for example, is a very cheesy and often ineptly accomplished B-horror movie, but you certainly wouldn't think so after reading the plot synopsis! J.S. Cardone, the weird guy who also made the early 80's video-nasty "The Slayer", thought up a complex premise with dream weaves, secret NASA-sponsored medical experiments and alternate dimensions … only to arrive eventually at a movie about a shape-shifting creature stalking and gruesomely killing people in an abandoned subterranean science lab. Dig this: our brain actually protects us when we sleep, because we naturally dream about horrific stuff during our nightly subconscious journey to a parallel dimension. The acclaimed Dr. Van Fleet is working hard to control and regulate this process by isolating the brain instructions. NASA is interested in the experiments, for their astronauts on future missions, but when of Dr. Van Fleet's guinea pigs dies under mysterious circumstances, Captain Hickock is sent in to investigate. When he requests to repeat the modus operandi on another living specimen, a murderous type of shape-shifting creature is unleashed and everyone is trapped down in the hermetically sealed of base. Once the monster is loose, all the pseudo-intelligent mumbo jumbo about alternate dimensions etcetera is thrown overboard and "Shadowzone" becomes an ordinary but nevertheless entertaining little horror flick. This is actually one of my first acquaintances with the works of Full Moon Studios. A friend of mine gradually intends to introduce me to this cheesy B-movie studio's greatest "classics", and I must admit he did a fairly good job starting off with "Shadowzone". The kills are inventive and the make-up effects are enjoyably nasty (there even is a delicious head-explosion). There's some welcome gratuitous nudity and wondrously hammy acting performances from washed-up cult veterans. James Hong stars as the fanatic scientist and Louise Fletcher, the unforgettable Nurse Ratched in "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest", is awesome as his assistant. The finale is kind of dumb, but hey who's complaining. Good trashy fun from Full Moon.