Film Review: THE SUPERNATURALS (1986)

I love zombie movies and stories (long before AMC’s The Walking Dead made it popular to) and The Supernaturals (1986) is a film that’s always been on my list of films to look out for but with the demise of the video store it was nearly impossible to find (unless you wanted to pay top dollar for VHS copy).  I finally came across a copy of the film and to my delight I actually enjoyed the film (but not necessarily for the reasons that you might think). 

After a brief intro during Civil War era, we cut to modern day times with a group of soldiers during military games in the exact location of the opening of the film.  Lead by Sgt. Hawkins (Nichelle Nichols), the soldiers are given live ammo and tasked with surviving the weekend as if in real combat.  Unbeknownst to them the place is under a curse and dead union soldiers begin to rise turning the games into real life combat.  The black sheep of Sgt. Hawkins’ group Pvt. Ray Ellis (Maxwell Caulfield) soon discovers a connection to a strange woman that just shows up amidst the chaos.  Now he must discover how he fits into what is going on while also trying to save his friends before they are all killed.

This is a very bare bones zombie film as the zombies don’t really show up until the last third of the film.  This film is more concerned with the soldiers’ story and their desecration of the cursed land not to mention their inadequacies as actual soldiers.  There is nothing truly horrifying or suspenseful in the film (even for a film in the late ‘80s) and for the most part it trudges along at a very slow pace.

What truly interests me about the film is that it has an early appearance by future Star Trek: The Next Generation star LeVar Burton!  So this is a film with two Star Trek Hall of Famers!  The film is also co-written by Joel Soisson (who would go on to write a slew of crappy sequels like The Prophesy 3: The Ascent, Highlander: Endgame, Mimic 2, Hellraiser: Hellworld, Hollow Man II, Pulse 2: Afterlife, Children of the Corn: Genesis, and Piranha 3DD, to name a small few) & Michael S. Murphy and directed by Armand Mastroianni .  Other than that the film is easily forgettable and has little else to recommend (so much for finally seeing a classic cult film).

Film Review: RISE OF THE ZOMBIES (2012)

There is a lot I will accept from a low budget film especially when it has no stars in it but I’m not as forgiving with a low budget film that uses stars to sell their film and make it seem more interesting then it really is.  This is my biggest problem with Rise of the Zombies (2012).  With names such as Danny Trejo, Mariel Hemingway, Ethan Suplee, and LeVar Burton you’d at least expect a half way decent and entertaining zombie film, but that is not the case. 

When the zombie apocalypse occurs a group of survivors go to Alcatraz Island for safe haven.  Lynn Snyder and Doctor Halpern (Hemingway and Burton, respectfully) are trying to find a cure for the zombie plague but are stopped at every turn by Captain Caspian (Trejo) who believes the only good zombie is a dead one.  When Alcatraz becomes overrun by zombies they leave in the hopes of finding a Doctor Arnold (French Stewart) who holds the key to a cure for the plague.  

Doesn’t sound that bad does it? 

Looks can be deceiving as I found out the hard way from this complete mess of a film.  Besides the script being something cobbled together from various Romero zombie films this film has absolutely no original bone in its body (other than setting the film on Alcatraz).  Performances are worse than subpar which is surprising coming from the established talents up on screen (who I’m sure only did the film because of the pay check).  I’ve come to expect some cheese with my low budget horror films but stupidity is a whole other story.  None of the characters are smart and motivations are non-existent.  This film took the best of other zombie films but didn’t know why they worked in those other films making this nothing but an excuse to get a bunch of stars together for a zombie film.  I am surprised by Hemingway and Burton’s participation in this film as both deserve better and even Trejo (who has made a living in low budget horror film haven) seems to be phoning this film in (and it should come as no surprise that when he dies a third of the way in you are not in the least bit sorry).

These stars deserve better than this dredge and so do zombie fans.