Supernaturales

I am a huge fan of zombie movies, so, when I found this one, I jumped to the chance of renting it. And then I knew I made a bad choice.

The movie is about a group of army recruits being led into the backwoods by their head sergeant, Uhura from Star Trek. And I'll be damned if this wasn't another sequel to those Police Academy movies or something. From that marching band music, to goofy acting, to constant joking, and so on, I was really thinking this was like the 8th sequel, "Assignment in Alabama" or something. And that wasn't a good sign.

Eventually, some "supernatural" stuff starts to happen, relating back to some flashback of a kid walking through a minefield with all these Confederate soldiers, only to have all of them blown away, except for him. A very cheesy scene. There's this woman the group finds, and apparently, they have no questioning as to who she really is, or what she's doing there. She's just with them now.

I was starting to fall asleep until finally some guy got killed by two zombies in an underground bunker. Then there's that, "We've found a body, now let's find the killer" scheme until finally, that night, there is...yes...a shoot-out between zombies--which we barely ever see--and the recruits, who are getting killed left and right. But it's no bloodbath.

There's a lot of scenes with this one guy and the zombies, while Uhura and some other chick hide behind rocks with a few other survivors and shoot at zombies. It was all really lame, until the terrible ending that had nothing resembling a climax. And then it ended. We saw an equivalent of ten zombies in the whole movie, uninteresting deaths, and basically no horror. Skip this one. It's not only a bad zombie movie, it's a bad horror movie in total.

I remember seeing this one as a kid but failed to remember much else from it. Now I know why: Not much happens in it. The only few merits it has, are the neat ghost story concept (Return of the Civil War Zombies) and some commendable attempts at creating atmosphere (mainly with the use of lighting and fog). Too bad the rest of the film is a dud. It's like it wants to, but can't, really.

The zombies appear to have cool make-up effects, but it's hard to tell because you hardly get a good look at them. It sort of plays out like a supernatural slasher movie in the woods. The teenagers here are simply replaced with a bunch of military soldiers in training (or something). Either way, they all still act like teenage boy-scouts. A lot of them do get killed, but never in exuberant ways. THE SUPERNATURALS might still be worth a watch if you fancy this type of typical 80's stuff, but make sure to lower your expectations.

I really wanted to like this film a bit more, this second time around. But it just remains a flawed movie. If it would have had at least a slightly higher pace and a bit more memorable death-scenes, I would have been more forgiving. Now, I'm just very sorry.

This is another movie to put on the ALRIGHT chart. Scottish-born Maxwell Caulfield and Star Treks Nichelle Nichols go down to the woods and get a big surprise. No, not Jason, ZOMBIES! A force that has brought back the dead confederate soldiers to wreak revenge on some recruits. The direction isn't up to much, the story is quite shoddy and the characters are wimps apart from the 2 listed above. The scares of being chased through the woods are quite enjoyable and the shoot-outs are quite good. But to be honest, I've seen more gore in Scooby-Doo than in this! 5.5 out of 10.

In 1865, In Alabama, during the American Civil War, Confederate soldiers are held captive and forced by the 44th Union Army commander to walk through a field with landmines to blow up them. The boy Jeremy (Chad Sheets) is wearing a Confederate uniform and is also forced to make the crossing. When his mother Melanie (Margaret Shendal) runs to save him, she steps on a landmine and Jeremy uses his mysterious ability to revive her. On the present days, a rookie platoon commanded by Sgt. Leona Hawkins (Nichelle Nichols) in training in the same spot and will camp, and Pvt. Ray Ellis (Maxwell Caulfield) finds the place strange, but Sgt. Hawkins is reluctant to move. Out of the Blue, Melanie reappears and meets Ellis since he recalls her husband. During the night, a mysterious fog surrounds their camp. Soon they are attacked by a horde of zombies and Ellis finds a means to stop the aggressors. Will he succeed?

"The Supernaturals" (1986) is a lame zombie movie from the 80's. When I saw it in the 80's on VHS, maybe I did not see how bad it is. But in 2024, it is awful. Nichelle Nichols should have stayed as Uhura in the cult Star Trek. The beauty of Talia Balsam is the best this movie can offer. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Os Sobrenaturais" ("The Supernaturals")

The Supernaturals is pure 80's cheese. It's corny, has terrible acting, and is full of stereotypes (the nerd, the black guy with the radio, and the horny white guy for starters). So why then do I like this movie? Is it because of the Star Trek alumni (Uhura and La Forge), the best Abraham Lincoln impersonator I've ever seen, or LeVar Burton's sinister mustache? None of the above. It's because The Supernaturals is one of those movies from my childhood. I saw it years ago and it just grows on you. It's extremely cheesy, but likable. It's a non-traditional zombie/ghost story and that alone should make zombie fans want to see it. There is a lack of gore, however, the zombies look cool, when visible. Actually I don't know why this movie is rated R. Maxwell Caulfield is always great too. He is a fine example of wasted B movie talent. The Supernaturals is worth at least one viewing.