Shadowzone (18)

Shadowzone - Synopsis:

"After someone is killed in the subterranean project called "Shadowzone," a NASA captain is called in to investigate. In the project, sleeping subjects are induced into a deep EDS state whereby they become portals to a parallel universe. Unfortunately, this causes adverse reactions in the subject, and something gets through the portal, the consequence of which is an attrition problem. Scientists experiment with Extreme Dream Sleep and find a Parallel Dimension. Now they find the door works both ways and something has come through.".

The 1990 horror flick 'Shadowzone' was recently brought out on DVD by the company Film 2000, the cover for this low budget horror film is littered with mistakes. Firstly the DVD cover proudly sports a banner announcing that the film is "Executive Produced and Directed by Charles Band". A small error, as the film was actually directed by J.S. Cardone. Then you have the film's credits, which turn out to be the credits for Charles Band's 1990 sci-fi thriller "Crash and Burn". Quite a mistake as the two films obviously have completely different cast and crew. Then, to top off the blunders, the film's tag-line is written in bold across the front announcing "In Alien No One Could Here You Scream. In The Shadowzone That's All Tou Can Here"...note the spelling of 'You' being 'Tou'. So for a professional release of the DVD, Film 2000 have really only managed to get the title, certificate and their company name right!

Anyway, on with the review. Shadowzone delivers a low budget 'Troma' style film with great 80's style special effects and make-up. The storyline is predictable and dull, along with a appalling script. The acting is actually of a reasonable standard which was a pleasant surprise. The film owes itself a lot to the film 'Alien' and even moreso to John Carpenter's 'The Thing' with some obvious direct rip offs that surely aren't merely playing homage to his masterpiece.

As the film has been labeled with completely the wrong credits and is now often advertised for sale with these wrong credits, here the real credits are (painstakingly taken from the actual credits at the end of the film):

CAST:

Louise Fletcher............Dr. Erhardt

David Beecroft.............Capt. Hickock

James Hong..................Dr. Van Fleet

Frederick Flynn............Tommy Shivers

Shawn Weatherly..........Dr. Kidwell

Miguel A. N ez Jr.......Wiley

Lu Leonard....................Mrs. Cutter

Maureen Flaherty...........Jenna

Robbie Rives..................James

CREW:

Directed By....................J.S. Cardone

Written By......................J.S. Cardone

Executive Producer.........Charles Band

Associate Producer.........Debra Dion

Producer..........................Carol Kottenbrook

Music By.........................Richard Band

Cinematography By.........Karen Grossman

Editing By........................Thomas Meshelski

Make-up By.....................Marie-Gabrielle Clark

Special Effects Make-up..Mark Shostrom

Visual Effects By.............Richard Malzahn

All in all, not a bad film for a late-night watching, but don't expect a masterpiece. The whole storyline is laughable and can get tedious in places. The film attempts to produce some scary suspense but just ends up dragging. It is quite enjoyable to watch though and worth picking up for a few quid, but don't fork out much hard earned cash for this. The DVD only comes with a Theatrical Trailer for the film, so no real special features with the DVD.