SHADOWZONE (1990)
Label: Full Moon Features
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 88 Minutes 23 Seconds
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0, 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: J.S. Cardone
Cast: David Beecroft, Fredrick Flynn, James Hong, Louise Fletcher, Lu Leonard, Miguel Nunez Jr., Shawn Weatherly
In the J.S. Cardone (The Slayer) directed sci-fi horror Shadowzone (1990) NASA hyper-sleep researcher Dr. Van Fleet (James Hong, Big Trouble in Little China) oversees the secretive Project Shadowzone in an underground research facility at the mostly abandoned Jackass Flats Proving Grounds, where they are studying the effects of deep-sleep of test subjects. He is joined in his research by Dr. Erhardt Louise Fletcher, Strange Invaders), the attractive animal expert Dr. Kidwell (Shawn Weatherly, Amityville 1992: It's About Time), and computer tech Wiley (Miguel A. Núñez Jr., The Return of the Living Dead). After one of their three test subjects dies from a cerebral hemorrhage during a simulation NASA sends in Capt. Hickock (David Beecroft, Creepshow 2) to investigate and determine if anything improper has taken place, and you can tell right away the research team knows way more than they are letting on about what happened. Hickcock senses this and puts the research team through their paces re-creating the fatal sleep study experiment. The test subjects are fully nude and kept in a deep-sleep inside some glass chambers that sort of recalled the space vampire glass coffins from Lifeforce, there's plenty of nudity, the test subjects featuring a couple of beefy men and the quite attractive Maureen Flaherty (Bikini Summer II) who only awakens during the film's final moments.
Hickcock presses on with the experiment observation unaware that the minds of the deep-sleep test subjects have somehow allowed a highly intelligent, malevolent being from a parallel dimension dubbed "John Doe" to enter our dimension, where it managing to tap into the subterranean research station's computer system and shut it down, trapping everyone in the below ground station as the creature preys on them. Also trapped are the film's comic relief characters, a scruffy shotgun-toting janitor named Shivers (Frederick Flynn, The Slayer) and the surly cook named Cutter (Lu Leonard, Starman) who we are told was formerly a madame at a nearby brothel.
The flick has some cool Lovecraft vibes, sort of channeling From Beyond a bit with an experiment that reveals a parallel universe previously unseen, albeit on a much lower budget from the looks of things. While there are some comic relief moments by way of the janitor and cook this is played pretty straight for the most part, and we get a fair amount of gore and gooey special effects work with plenty of bloodshed by way of head explosions and some Scanners-esque pulsating, veiny facial bladders, plus some tasty creature FX work include a demonic rat, a melty looking monkey and a hideous circus geek, all of them fears conjured from the minds of the victims. We also get some early 90's digital computer screens with 8-bit images that track the heat signature of the entity, I always love these retro computer screen images in horror flicks. Eventually Hickcock and Erhardt are all that are left of the team and have to figure out a way to get the entity back through the rift to it's own dimension, and we get a pretty spiffy finale with some fun special effects.
Not an amazing sci-fi horror entry but a pretty fun Full Moon flick that riffs on some other better horror flicks, which at least makes for an entertaining viewing. It's always great to see James Hong show-up in a low-budget flick, as well as Fletcher whose character is always applying chapstick to her lips, which I thought was an interesting quirky character trait. Beecroft as Hickcock was pretty stiff as the "hero" here, but then again, Flaherty barely speaks a few words in this one and manages to steal the show as the nude "sleeping beauty" just by laying there motionless and looking gorgeous.
Audio/Video: Shadowzone (1990) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Full Moon Features in 1080p HD framed in 1.78:1 widescreen, advertised as "remastered from the original negative" the presentation looks pretty solid with film grain intact is looking slightly smoothed, black levels are pleasing and colors look accurate. Audio comes by way of English Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1, I preferred the 2.0 which is probably truer tot he original mix, the 5.1 opens it up slightly but not significantly. Dialogue is crisp and well-balanced, the score from Richard Band (Re-Animator) is not one of his more interesting Full Moon endeavors but it gets the job done.
Special Features:
- Original SHADOWZONE Trailer (1:35)
- Original Full Moon Trailers: Bad CGI Gator, Bring Her To Me, Aimee, Doktor Death, Don't Let Her In, Subspecies 5: Bloodrise
If you're in the mood for a Full Moon flick that channels The Thing, From Beyond, Alien, Lifeforce and Scanners, and is populated by an interesting hodge-podge cast, and with the usual low-budget Full Moon charm this one is pretty entertaining if not exactly an amazing sci-fi horror entry, particularly if you have a fondness for early 90's Full Moon flicks.
Screenshots from the Full Moon Features Blu-ray:
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