Sueños mortales

J.S. Cardones' spooky and sinister low budget retread of "Alien" and "The Thing" does have some good ideas going for it as a result, and is fairly well produced and directed on a low budget.

A top secret government project (they'll never run out of those in genre movies), located deep underground, is hard at work conducting sleep related experiments. One of their subjects has died violently and a NASA captain, Hickock (David Beecroft, 'Falcon Crest') arrives to investigate. What the project team has discovered is that these experiments have opened a path to some other dimension and now a hideous creature is on the loose, a creature that will make quick work of the characters while they try to figure out how to fight back.

Even if rather routine in the end, "Shadowzone" is a good example of its genre, with Cardone creating a solid atmosphere and some decent suspense. Karen Grossmans' cinematography is quite stylish and moody, and the production design by Don Day is likewise impressive. Richard Band supplies the spooky music score. Mark Shostrom creates some appropriately nasty monster effects and gore.

A solid cast including several familiar faces is fun to watch, especially old pros like James Hong ("Big Trouble in Little China"), as the scientist in charge, and Louise Fletcher ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"), as his assistant. They're old fashioned mad scientists, to be sure, but this does add to the overall comfortable predictability of the material. Co-starring are Shawn Weatherly (Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss South Carolina of 1980) as a fellow scientist, Lu Leonard ("Starman") as the tough talking cook, Miguel A. Nunez Jr. ("The Return of the Living Dead") as reliable technician Wiley, and Frederick Flynn (Cardones' "The Slayer") as agitated, panicky custodian Shivers. Some of you will be interested to note that there is some nudity provided courtesy of bit players Maureen Flaherty and Robbie Rives.

The movie begins on an effectively ominous note and is consistent in tone and pace right up until a rather underwhelming finale. It's definitely recommended if you're a lover of B movies and Full Moon productions in particular.

Seven out of 10.

"Shadowzone" is a typical horror film from Full Moon Entertainment.In the underground laboratory a group of scientists are doing experiments with dreams.They accidentally kill one of the volunteers.David Beecroft is sent to investigate the death.When he arrives there,he finds out that the scientists have released a monster from a dream dimension.All of them are stuck under the ground while the monster kills them."Shadowzone" is a surprisingly well-done horror film loaded with nudity and graphic violence.The acting is decent and the characters are well-developed.The climax is disappointing,though.The film is still worth checking out,if you like bloody monster flicks.My rating:7 out of 10.

Late night TV as a kid, I would stay up in the hopes of coming across something so outrageously fun, or trashy, and that's how I initially came across this Full Moon production. This and "CRASH AND BURN" seemed to be on a loop every couple of months, becoming a staple of my late-night TV habits. Actually it's been quite awhile since I've last watched "SHADOWZONE", maybe around 15 years. My memory was rather fuzzy, but watching this little b-film again, after all these years. It remained a diverting, down-pat viewing. Mainly it reminded me of those plethora cheap Alien rip-offs, and boy, this film lifts some set-ups from "ALIEN". I must admit, it wasn't as exciting as I remembered; nonetheless it was actually efficiently made by J.S Cardone, for such a limited looking production.

When it's not simply splashing blood against walls as the victims get attacked for most part off-screen, there are a few effective moments of suitably grotesque make-up FX and a touch of splatter. You can't fail with a head explosion. Even the creature design, and we do get a good look at it, provides solid enough practical effects despite the stiff movements. The script's theory behind its origin, structural metabolism and how it adapts to survive is rather creative, yet it's hodgepodge, as the science behind all of this commotion is nonsensical and poorly expanded on, sometimes even stalling and taking away from the simple-minded fun.

The mystery of what's going on in this underground facility slowly builds up to the danger that will unfold. Now that's when stupidity comes into play, to keep the story moving and to cause some deaths. Don't you just love it when our heroine needs something to destroy the computers, so he heads out the corridor to find an emergency axe in a glass case. Um, just wait a minute -- It's been there all this time, untouched, no one thought of using it when you got a hostile creature from a parallel dimension lurking about. Things don't start off that seriously though, with the script providing moments of morbid humor, but once the creature hits the scene, that changes and the cheap, tight surroundings gets claustrophobic trapping the occupants inside.

The turning point is when James Hong (who was appearing in nearly everything that was low-budget horror related in the late 80s to early 90s) decides to get himself knocked off. I was disappointed by that, but Louise Fletcher, Miguel A. Nunez Jr and Cardone regular Frederick Flynn do make something of their characters, even providing quirky shades, as our heroine played by David Beecroft, whose character is sent there by NASA to investigate the death of one the researchers' subjects, had all the personality of a wooden plank.

My review was written in March 1990 after watching the movie on Paramount video cassette.

One of the better Charles Band fantasy pics in some time, "Shadowzone" is a suspenseful thriller that has better-than-average home video prospects in its Paramount video release.

The film had a bief theatrical run on 42nd Street in January from JGM Enterprises.

Pic unfolds in the nailbiter tradition of Robert Wise's "The Andromeda Strain". James Hong and Louise Fletcher are scientists in a secret lab underground. David Beecroft visits as a NASA investigator following a mysterious death there.

With assistants Shawn Weatherly and Miguel Nunez, the scientists are conducting deep sleep experiments. Things go haywire when a monster from another dimension is called up accidentally. It only wants to return home, but wreaks havoc anyway.

Helmer J. S. Cardone does a solid job of maintaining tension while paying homages to such film classics as "The Thing". Cast is very good, with Hong getting a non-stereotyped assignment (as Dr. Von Fleet0 with a Germanic accent, no less. As the nude experimental subject in a coma, Maureen Flaherty has minimal diaglo but makes quite an impression on screen.

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...