Los sobrenaturales

Nichelle Nichols stars as a drill sergeant who takes some young army cadets to an isolated forest to do some training, but they run afoul of several ghosts / zombies from the Civil War. Some are good, but most of them are seeking revenge for having to walk on fields with land mines at gunpoint. A good cast is wasted in this slow moving, dull flick with poor zombie effects.

Rated R; Violence, Profanity, and a Mild Sexual Situation.

The Supernaturals is pure 80's cheese. It's corny, has terrible acting, and is full of stereotypes (the nerd, the black guy with the radio, and the horny white guy for starters). So why then do I like this movie? Is it because of the Star Trek alumni (Uhura and La Forge), the best Abraham Lincoln impersonator I've ever seen, or LeVar Burton's sinister mustache? None of the above. It's because The Supernaturals is one of those movies from my childhood. I saw it years ago and it just grows on you. It's extremely cheesy, but likable. It's a non-traditional zombie/ghost story and that alone should make zombie fans want to see it. There is a lack of gore, however, the zombies look cool, when visible. Actually I don't know why this movie is rated R. Maxwell Caulfield is always great too. He is a fine example of wasted B movie talent. The Supernaturals is worth at least one viewing.

From the film-maker of "He Knows You're Alone" (1980) "and "Distortions" (1987); Director Armand Mastroianni's generic survival zombie feature "The Supernaturals" has a good concept (army recruits on a training mission in the woods of the Deep South encounter dead confederate soldiers), which isn't entirely realised. In the end it's a passable low-budget, b-grade presentation that's a little too sloppy and uneventful, but is genuinely moody and atmospheric in its backwoods setting. Mastroianni's use of lighting, shadow work and a fog machine, installs some eerie imagery and a few nasty jolts in the back-end. However it really does take its time, before its final payoff --- the characters that you spend a lot of time with aren't particularly an interesting bunch (with some abysmal dialogues too). The scratchy plot doesn't explain all that much about what's going on; it's rather unusual and vague, but this does come off rather daft and cheesy in its on going build-ups. Although it does gradually get better as it goes along. The performances are decent enough (Nichelle Nichols, a pinning Maxwell Caulfield and Talia Balsam) and look out for a cameo by one of the Bee Gees; Maurice Gibb as a Union soldier. At times lousy, ponderous but tautly constructed with some striking visuals and commendable make-up FX when on show.

I remember seeing this one as a kid but failed to remember much else from it. Now I know why: Not much happens in it. The only few merits it has, are the neat ghost story concept (Return of the Civil War Zombies) and some commendable attempts at creating atmosphere (mainly with the use of lighting and fog). Too bad the rest of the film is a dud. It's like it wants to, but can't, really.

The zombies appear to have cool make-up effects, but it's hard to tell because you hardly get a good look at them. It sort of plays out like a supernatural slasher movie in the woods. The teenagers here are simply replaced with a bunch of military soldiers in training (or something). Either way, they all still act like teenage boy-scouts. A lot of them do get killed, but never in exuberant ways. THE SUPERNATURALS might still be worth a watch if you fancy this type of typical 80's stuff, but make sure to lower your expectations.

I really wanted to like this film a bit more, this second time around. But it just remains a flawed movie. If it would have had at least a slightly higher pace and a bit more memorable death-scenes, I would have been more forgiving. Now, I'm just very sorry.

I've read some pretty extreme (both positive and negative) reviews for this movie, but it's really a very middle-of-the-road affair. It's directed competently enough to keep you from feeling that you totally wasted your time with it, but it's also so derivative that it can even be called a ripoff (especially of Herschell Gordon Lewis' "Two Thousand Maniacs"; it has practically the same plot). The opening sequence is the best. (**)