Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Shadowzone Blu-ray Movie Review

"I thought I heard the monkey screeching..."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown February 11, 2025

A creature from another dimension terrorizes a group of scientists whose experiments have inadvertently opened a gateway to an otherworldly realm. Sound familiar? It should. You could probably close your eyes, spin around till you're dizzy, point to a random shelf in your movie room and find a little nugget of sci-fi/horror that fits the bill. Now you can add one more to the collection. Shadowzone begs, borrows and steals from bigger, better films of the era, offering a decent cast in place of an original script and the lowest of low budget frights in place of real menace and suspense. But surprise, surprise... it actually isn't all that bad, combining an unsettling interdimensional beastie with some solid practical fx to off said cast one by one, until only the strongest -- or luckiest -- remain. The film is a slice of B-movie fun, despite struggling to decide how serious to take its own threats, meaning you might just find something wrapped in its cheeseball mysteries and lo-fi malevolence to enjoy.

In a secret subterranean NASA research facility, a group of scientists led by the eccentric Dr. Van Fleet (James Hong, always a delight) are hard at work on "Project Shadowzone," an experiment that places subjects into an extended deep sleep state and monitors their brainwaves. When a tragic death pauses progress, NASA sends a captain named Hickock (David Beecroft) to investigate. Hickock insists that the team re-run the experiment on another comatose patient, so he can observe the conditions under which the previous accident occurred. Dr. Van Fleet's staff -- lead scientist Dr. Erhardt (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest's Louise Fletcher), specialist Dr. Kidwell (Shawn Weatherly), computer engineer Wiley (Miguel A. Núñez Jr.), the facility's maintenance man Tommy Shivers (Frederick Flynn) and on-site cook Mrs. Cutter (Lu Leonard) -- are hesitant to comply but do so anyway, leading to the death of one of the two remaining subjects, as well as triggering an emergency shutdown in which the base is sealed off from the outside world. That's when Hickock is told that an alien lifeform has materialized somewhere in the compound; an intelligent creature the team have dubbed "John Doe." As it turns out, Project Shadowzone's sleep studies have accidentally opened a portal into another dimension and something has slipped through... something with sinister intentions and little regard for human life.

Shadowzone blends elements of The Thing (1982), From Beyond (1986), The Blob (1988) and even A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) into a familiar bit of dreamy horror, but sadly comes up with ample excuses to hide its John Doe monster in all but a few glorious practical shots. It heaves too much weight on the screenplay and performances, neither of which are all that special, and reminds viewers again and again just how low its budget is. (As if the safety goggles showcased in the screenshot above didn't scream that fact louder than any.) There are some great gory bits -- a man explodes in a tube, a mutated rat gnaws off a victim's arm, and other gristly sequences -- but with limited characters on tap, there can only be so many deaths before you begin to wonder why everyone insists on splitting up or investigating strange noises alone. A naked comatose woman adds a touch of grindhouse silliness to the mix, as if the movie already couldn't decide which lane to veer into. She's perpetually on display throughout the film too, leaving one to wonder just how awkward it was for a poor actress to lie in a tube while so many scenes transpired around her nipply pseudo-corpse.

If you squint just right, though, you can see the film Shadowzone almost manages to be. Had the production design, cinematography and music leaned into the creepier aspects of the premise, a true horror classic may have emerged, blending the Lovecraftian unknown with something as fundamental to survival as sleep. Imagine the possibilities. The idea of nightmares being a product of other dimensions, the threat of opening some pathway to terror simply by dozing off too deeply, the chilling realization that legions of creatures await just on the other side of your mind's eye... all ripe for the picking. And Shadowzone goes for it on occasion, especially after most of the more generic fodder characters have been eliminated by John Doe. Viewed through the lens of its potential, it's a far cry from a failure, and one I would've probably eaten up in the VHS era had my friends and I stumbled across it at the local video store. Alas, thirty-five years later it shows its age a tad too much and doesn't offer up enough gruesome fun to resonate. Dialogue is pretty terrible at times as well, making for something of a slog if you don't warm to its cheesier traits early on. Ultimately, Shadowzone isn't one that should be outright dismissed, and at its bargain pricepoint, is certainly worth a blind buy, if only for its place among third-tier '90s genre treats.

Shadowzone Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Hold tight after starting Shadowzone. The film's opening minutes are soft and disappointing, and might leave you thinking the rest of the video presentation is doomed. Before you can say "f*** the monkey," though, the original photography and Full Moon's subsequent 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer kicks into gear and the remainder of the film is much better. Color and contrast are dialed in nicely, with well-balanced saturation, satisfying black levels, and lifelike skin tones. Blood comes in bright, bountiful sprays of red, marking some vibrant primary punch that's on full display throughout the movie. Detail is quite good on the whole as well, thanks to clean, naturally defined, at-times crisp edges and enough fine texture prowess to showcase the rotting corpse-subtleties of the practical creature fx. I did catch sight of some banding when flashlights were illuminating the darkness and a few slight instances of blocking, but both were minimal and will likely go unnoticed by most. The encode is by and large a proficient one, there isn't anything in the way of print damage or wear-n-tear, and the overall presentation warrants solid marks.

Shadowzone Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I can't believe it's 2025 and I'm still running into lossy Dolby Digital tracks on Blu-ray releases. But here we are. Shadowzone offers two lossy options: an original 192kbps 2.0 stereo mix and a fuller 448 kbps Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track. Neither one is bad by any means, so don't let yourself get too bent out of shape. Dialogue is intelligible and neatly grounded in the soundfield, LFE output is decent, rear speaker activity is often sparse but altogether effective when put to proper use, and dynamics are more than adequate. There also isn't any significant air hiss or noise floor to spoil the proceedings, despite the age of the film and its sound design. There are a handful of scenes where voices are thin or obvious ADR rears its head, but for the most part, this is Dolby Digital done right. But again, why is Dolby Digital being done at all? Maybe I'm just irritable, or principled, or have my expectations raised too high, but we're far enough into the lifespan of Blu-ray -- decades now, plural -- that it seems like an unnecessary step back in time.

Shadowzone Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Trailers, trailers, trailers. Full Moon sure does love its trailers. Unfortunately, that's all you'll find in terms of extras on the Blu-ray release of Shadowzone, which is a shame. I would've really enjoyed listening to some of the original actors or crew weigh in on its practical fx and other delights. How expensive is a commentary to put together? Is it really that cost-prohibitive?

Shadowzone Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Shadowzone is too ambitious for its budget and too loose in tone, but at its core is a snazzy little sci-fi/horror thriller that toys with some big ideas and offers a memorable creature in John Doe. Does it escape the gravitational pull of early '90s acting and screenwriting? Sadly, no, and it borrows too many elements from too many other films. There's still fun to be had, mind you. Just go in with expectations cranked down. Full Moon's Blu-ray is a mixed bag too. Its video presentation delivers but its lossy audio and lack of extras disappoints. But hey, it's available at a great price. Give it a spin, have a few laughs, and enjoy a trip back in time to 1990 post-Thing moviemaking.