Shadowzone

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.

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...

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.

I can First off say that I am a huge Full Moon Pictures Fan. There is not a Movie they make that I Don't love and want to watch over and over again. They did nothing more than Deliver another Masterpiece with "Shadow Zone". The Movie itself was very Good in all Categories. It was packed with Suspense and Very Delivering Scares. Sure, it wasn't the best Movie ever made from Full Moon (Puppet Master will always be the Greatest movie made), but probably up there in the Top Ten. I love this Movie and if you are a Full Moon Pictures or Horror Fan, you will too.

It wasn't just the Killings themselves that made the movie. It was the Sense of Reality I Felt. I felt like I was In The Movie, being chased, etc. As far as the Musical Score Goes, Don't expect Much. Just put in this Move with a Good Attitude, If you say or think you'll hate it, You most likely will.

My Final Rating: 10 out of 10 (**** out of ****)

People who liked this Movie Might like: Puppet Master, Blood Dolls, Arcade, Seed people, Night of the Living Dead, Hell Asylum, Prison of the Dead, Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare on elm street, as well as other Titles from Full Moon Pictures.

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.