Subject: REVIEW: SHADOWZONE

From: [email-masked] (Brian L. Johnson)
Date: 25 Sep 92 14:46:28 GMT

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                                SHADOWZONE
                       A film review by Ken Johnson
                        Copyright 1992 Ken Johnson

88 min., R, Horror/Science Fiction, 1989
Director: J.S. Cardone
Cast: David Beecroft, James Hong, Shawn Weatherly, Miguel Nunez,
      Lu Leonard, Frederick Flynn, Louise Fletcher, Maureen Flaherty,
      Robbie Rives

     In an isolated complex under the ground, a group of scientists, who
are doing experiments with dreams accidentally kill one of the
volunteers.  David Beecroft gets sent to investigate the death.  When he
arrives there, he finds out that the scientists have released a monster
from a dream dimension into the complex by mistake.  All of them are
stuck under the ground while the monster slaughters them.

     SHADOWZONE is done by Full Moon Entertainment and is distributed by
Paramount home video.  SHADOWZONE is a rather well done horror film,
that has some slight problems.  I recommend this film to people who
liked the ALIEN series.  On a scale of zero to five, I give SHADOWZONE a
three.  SHADOWZONE is rated R for female nudity, male nudity, explicit
language, and graphic violence.

     SHADOWZONE was released in 1989, but my local video store just
recently obtained it.  SHADOWZONE was never released theatrically, I
have heard that none of the Full Moon Entertainment films are ever
released to the theaters.  The biggest problem with SHADOWZONE is that,
although it seems to try hard to be original, it looks to me like a
rip-off of ALIEN.  It has the animal element, this time a monkey, but
the monster is different.  This monster can change it's size (and many
other things).

     For the most part the characters were well written.  The person who
I think the writers goofed with was James Hong's character.  For a smart
scientist, he seems to do some rather stupid things.  The
actors/actresses all do a great job however, which makes the movie all
that more enjoyable.  Another problem with the film is that the monster
comes through a dream door from a dream dimension.  For me it is a bit
hard to accept the fact that a dream dimension can send material objects
into the real world (although the film somewhat covers that aspect).

     Another problem with the film is that I felt ripped off with the
ending.  It doesn't fit with the continuity of the film and looks like
it was hastily written.  They should have worked harder on the ending.
The film did, however, make the underground laboratory seem spooky and
foreboding.

Ken J.
[email-masked]