The Supernaturals (horror film)
Encyclopedia
The Supernaturals is a Zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...

 Horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...

 directed by Armand Mastroianni
Armand Mastroianni
Armand Mastroianni is an American film director. He is the father of Paul Mastroianni who is also pursuing a career in filmmaking. Armand Mastroianni's directorial debut was the 1980 horror film He Knows You're Alone which was also the screen debut of actor Tom Hanks...

, and written by Michael S. Murphey and Joel Soisson
Joel Soisson
Joel Soisson is a screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life:Having been educated in fine arts and character animation at Pratt Institute and film studies at the University of Southern California and the American Film Institute.-Movie career:He works currently on Children of the Corn: The...

. Filmed in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in 1985, The Supernaturals was released by Embassy Pictures
Embassy Pictures
Embassy Pictures Corporation was an independent studio and distributor responsible for such films as The Graduate, The Lion in Winter, This Is Spinal Tap and Escape from New York.-Founding:The company was founded in 1942 by producer Joseph E...

 in 1986, and has never been re-released since its original VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

 Video rental format.

Plot

One hundred years ago, deep in the sullen backwoods of the southern states, a Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 town is held captive, the soldiers forced to walk through a piece of woodland laced with mines. Because he is found wearing a Confederate States Army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 outfit, Jeremy (Chad Sheets), a young boy is also forced to make the crossing. If they make it across the minefield the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 44th will set them free. Only Jeremy and his mother (Melanie) - who runs to save him - survive, despite the fact that the mother has stepped on a mine. Jeremy exhibits unearthly powers. Jump to circa
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...

1985 and a platoon of soldiers are out on manouevres in the same backwoods. They too are the 44th, descendants of the Union platoon of years before, those who committed the atrocities. The main character here is Pvt. Ellis (Maxwell Caulfield
Maxwell Caulfield
Maxwell Caulfield is a British film, stage, and television actor who is based in the United States, known for his roles as Michael Carrington in Grease 2 and as Miles Colby in The Colbys and its parent show Dynasty . He has more than 70 film, stage and television credits. He starred in Ronald F...

), the only soldier to catch glimpses of the beautiful and mysterious Melanie; Ellis also has a romantic interest in Pvt. Lejune (Talia Balsam
Talia Balsam
Talia Balsam is an American actress.-Early life:Balsam was born in New York City to actors Martin Balsam and Joyce Van Patten.-Career:...

). The platoon decide to camp inside a circle of yellow grass seemingly caused by brush fire, a spot from which the wind only blows outward. Pvt. Ellis is reluctant to camp there, but Sgt. Hawkins does not like having her authority undermined. Whilst the platoon are setting up camp, Melanie reappears - this time witnessed by all in the platoon - and takes a strong interest in Pvt. Ellis who bears an uncanny resemblance to her husband, Evan.

Trouble for Sgt. Hawkins (Nichelle Nichols
Nichelle Nichols
Nichelle Nichols is an American actress, singer and voice artist. She sang with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton before turning to acting...

) and her platoon
Platoon
A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four sections or squads and containing 16 to 50 soldiers. Platoons are organized into a company, which typically consists of three, four or five platoons. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer—the...

 begins with the soldiers' drunken and childish antics; however, events take a sinister turn when Pvt. Cort (Bobby Di Cicco
Bobby Di Cicco
Bobby Di Cicco is an American actor. He has starred in several films since the 1970s, but has mostly been involved in television work such as The A-Team. His early work includes the film 1941 by Steven Spielberg, in which he plays one of the main characters, 'Wally Stephens'...

) is found shot in the head. They inexplicably lose radio contact and the nearest town is over twenty miles away. Hawkins and her platoon go in search of - and arrest - Melanie, who lives in an old wooden shack with what looks to be her father or grandfather, a withered old man. In the cabin they discover the relics of muskets and an old diary, written by Evan. They take Melanie back to camp, but leave the old man at the cabin; he is too old and frail to go anywhere. During the night, an eerie fog
Fog
Fog is a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated...

 rolls in, encompassing the 44th, and the Confederate Dead close in on their camp. Most of the 44th are subsequently killed - one-by-one - whilst Pvt. Ellis heads off into the woods in search of the old man who, it turns out, is Jeremy (he has used his powers to keep his mother the same age). Along the way he is forced to do battle with the Confederate zombies and also runs into Melanie, who shows him a locket. Inside is a picture of Evan and Ellis immediately recognizes the resemblance. He snatches the locket from around her neck and runs in the direction of the cabin. Once there he persuades Jeremy to end the evil spell and send Melanie and the zombies back to wherever it is the dead are supposed go. Exhausted, Jeremy dies and Ellis returns to the camp where Lejune and Hawkins are waiting, the only survivors. Ellis embraces Lejune and the locket falls from his hand to the woodland floor, where it is lost amongst the leaves.

Soundtrack

Originally, the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...

 to The Supernaturals was scored by the late Maurice Gibb
Maurice Gibb
Maurice Ernest Gibb, CBE was a musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He was born on the Isle of Man, the twin brother of Robin Gibb, and younger brother to Barry. He is best known as a member of the singing/songwriting trio the Bee Gees, formed with his brothers...

 of The Bee Gees. The score was rejected, though, in favour of one written by Robert O. Ragland
Robert O. Ragland
Robert O. Ragland is an American film score composer.Ragland attended Northwestern University and also earned degrees at the Academy of Music in Vienna. He served as a music arranger for the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra in his early years.He turned to film music in 1968...

. Gibb can be seen in The Supernaturals in a cameo role as a Union soldier.

Make-Up & Special Effects

Behind the Make-up and Special Effects (film)
Special Effects (film)
Special Effects is a 1984 film directed by Larry Cohen. It stars Zoe Lund and Eric Bogosian.-Cast:*Zoe Lund as Andrea Wilcox / Elaine*Eric Bogosian as Christopher Neville*Brad Rijn as Keefe Waterman*Kevin O'connor as Det. Lt. Phillip Delroy...

 is Bart J. Mixon, who has also worked on films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge is a 1985 American slasher film and the second film in the Nightmare on Elm Street film series. The film was directed by Jack Sholder and stars Mark Patton, Kim Myers, Robert Rusler and Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger. Despite the film's title,...

 and Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Mixon worked with Ed Ferrell, Shannon Shea and Mark Shostrom
Mark Shostrom
Mark Shostrom is a special makeup effects artist for the film industry. He is the winner of three Emmy awards and has been nominated for four Saturn Awards by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films...

 on The Supernaturals: he describes them as '[a] very small but talented crew' . Mixon administered a 'forehead appliance on Bobby Di Cicco
Bobby Di Cicco
Bobby Di Cicco is an American actor. He has starred in several films since the 1970s, but has mostly been involved in television work such as The A-Team. His early work includes the film 1941 by Steven Spielberg, in which he plays one of the main characters, 'Wally Stephens'...

 with a bullet hole in it': Di Cicco had just finished filming 1941 (film)
1941 (film)
1941 is a 1979 period comedy film directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, and featuring an ensemble cast including John Belushi, Ned Beatty, John Candy, Toshiro Mifune, Christopher Lee and Dan Aykroyd...

 and was then an up-and-coming actor. He also worked with Maxwell Caulfield
Maxwell Caulfield
Maxwell Caulfield is a British film, stage, and television actor who is based in the United States, known for his roles as Michael Carrington in Grease 2 and as Miles Colby in The Colbys and its parent show Dynasty . He has more than 70 film, stage and television credits. He starred in Ronald F...

 (star of the 1982 musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...

 Grease 2
Grease 2
Grease 2 is a 1982 American musical film and sequel to Grease, which is based upon the musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Grease 2 was produced by Allan Carr and Robert Stigwood, and directed and choreographed by Patricia Birch, who also choreographed the first film...

), and with Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...

 regulars LeVar Burton
LeVar Burton
Levardis Robert Martyn Burton, Jr. , professionally known as LeVar Burton, is an American actor, director, producer and author who first came to prominence portraying Kunta Kinte in the 1977 award-winning ABC television miniseries Roots, based on the novel by Alex Haley...

 and Nichelle Nichols
Nichelle Nichols
Nichelle Nichols is an American actress, singer and voice artist. She sang with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton before turning to acting...

. Mixon goes on to praise The Supernaturals for not following in the footsteps of George A. Romero
George A. Romero
George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...

, calling the film original. However, a limited and subsequently slashed budget meant that Prosthetic makeup
Prosthetic makeup
Prosthetic makeup is the process of using prosthetic sculpting, molding and casting techniques to create advanced cosmetic effects...

 gave way to head masks. 'I think our work turned out very well,' Mixon comments on the finished product, 'and I wish it was shown off a little better in the final film'.

Cult Status

Since its initial release, The Supernaturals has garnered a cult following, most notably among fans of the original Star Trek (TV series) (1966-69) and Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...

(1987-94) - and their subsequent motion pictures. Nichelle Nichols
Nichelle Nichols
Nichelle Nichols is an American actress, singer and voice artist. She sang with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton before turning to acting...

 - who plays Sgt. Leona Hawkins in The Supernaturals - is well-known for her role as Uhura
Uhura
Nyota Uhura is a character in Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, the first six Star Trek films, and the 2009 film Star Trek...

 in Star Trek, a role she reprised in Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a 1979 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the first film based on the Star Trek television series. The film is set in the twenty-third century, when a mysterious and immensely powerful alien cloud called V'Ger approaches the Earth,...

(1979) and its six sequels. LeVar Burton
LeVar Burton
Levardis Robert Martyn Burton, Jr. , professionally known as LeVar Burton, is an American actor, director, producer and author who first came to prominence portraying Kunta Kinte in the 1977 award-winning ABC television miniseries Roots, based on the novel by Alex Haley...

 - Pvt. Michael Osgood - has appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation and its subsequent motion picture sequels. Incidentally, despite both Burton and Nichols having had prominent roles in the Star Trek universe, the only on-screen appearance they have shared is in The Supernaturals. The film has been further sougt after by die hard fans of the Zombie film: its original release, solely on NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...

 and PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...

 VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

 Video rental format in 1986 in film
1986 in film
-Events:*April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Go's Belinda Carlisle.*April 26 - Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver.*May - Actress Heather Locklear marries Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee....

, has rendered The Supernaturals rare and collectible, and moderately expensive to own.

Tagline

There are strangers in the woods and a century of hatred is about to erupt [UK VHS Cover].

There is no excape from the nightmare that has waited 100 years to return [USA VHS Jacket].

Critical Response

Reviews for The Supernaturals have been generally middle of the road. Richard Scheib of Moria: Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review has called The Supernaturals a 'zombie film that is made with a reasonable degree of flair', has 'an effective build-up' and one in which 'the characterizations of the soldiers are [...] well built up'; however, Schieb comments on the ending, saying the 'film falters at its climax' [Moria awards a 2 1/2 star rating]. The Video Graveyard calls the film 'so-so [and] watchable if nothing else': they award the film 2 stars. Best-Horror-Movies call The Supernaturals an 'original horror film' and one which is 'interesting'.

Flixster online magazine says: '[t]he terror in this chiller is more implied and the blood and gore is minimal [...]'. Bleeding Skull online magazine sums up The Supernaturals as both 'bland and boring'. IMDB (The Internet Movie Database) give the film a low 2 star rating out of 10 and Rotten Tomatoes has yet to publish a critical review; the user reviews are again middle of the road. Amazon [UK] give The Supernaturals a respectable three-star rating, liking it to Walter Hill (filmmaker)'s Southern Comfort (film)
Southern Comfort (film)
Southern Comfort is an American action/thriller film directed by Walter Hill, working from a script by Hill, longtime collaborator David Giler, and Michael Kane. It featured Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Alan Autry, Les Lannom, Peter Coyote, T. K...

.; Amazon [USA] offer 2.5 stars, placing the film alongside 1980s B movie
B movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....

 classics like Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...

's Silver Bullet (film)
Silver Bullet (film)
Silver Bullet is a 1985 horror film based on the Stephen King novella Cycle of the Werewolf. It stars Gary Busey, Everett McGill, Megan Follows, Corey Haim, Terry O'Quinn, Lawrence Tierney, Bill Smitrovich, Kent Broadhurst, David Hart, and James Gammon...

 and Larry Cohen
Larry Cohen
Lawrence G. "Larry" Cohen is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter. He is best known as a B-Movie auteur of horror and science fiction films - often containing a police procedural element - during 1970s and 1980s...

's The Stuff
The Stuff
The Stuff is a 1985 American horror film written, produced, and directed by Larry Cohen and starring Michael Moriarty, Garrett Morris, Andrea Marcovicci, and Paul Sorvino. It was also the last film of noted actor Alexander Scourby.-Plot:...

.

Cast

  • Maxwell Caulfield
    Maxwell Caulfield
    Maxwell Caulfield is a British film, stage, and television actor who is based in the United States, known for his roles as Michael Carrington in Grease 2 and as Miles Colby in The Colbys and its parent show Dynasty . He has more than 70 film, stage and television credits. He starred in Ronald F...

     as Pvt. Ray Ellis
  • Nichelle Nichols
    Nichelle Nichols
    Nichelle Nichols is an American actress, singer and voice artist. She sang with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton before turning to acting...

      as Sgt. Leona Hawkins
  • Talia Balsam
    Talia Balsam
    Talia Balsam is an American actress.-Early life:Balsam was born in New York City to actors Martin Balsam and Joyce Van Patten.-Career:...

     as Pvt. Angela Lejune
  • Bradford Bancroft as Pvt. Tom Weir
  • LeVar Burton
    LeVar Burton
    Levardis Robert Martyn Burton, Jr. , professionally known as LeVar Burton, is an American actor, director, producer and author who first came to prominence portraying Kunta Kinte in the 1977 award-winning ABC television miniseries Roots, based on the novel by Alex Haley...

     as Pvt. Michael Osgood
  • Bobby Di Cicco
    Bobby Di Cicco
    Bobby Di Cicco is an American actor. He has starred in several films since the 1970s, but has mostly been involved in television work such as The A-Team. His early work includes the film 1941 by Steven Spielberg, in which he plays one of the main characters, 'Wally Stephens'...

     as Pvt. Tim Cort
  • Scott Jacoby
    Scott Jacoby
    Scott Jacoby is an American actor. He won an Emmy Award for his role in the 1972 television film That Certain Summer. He is also famous for playing the lead role in the made for TV film Bad Ronald 1974....

     as Pvt. Chris Mendez
  • Richard Pachorek as Pvt. Ralph Sedgewick
  • John Zarchen as Pvt. Julius Engel
  • Margaret Shendal as Melanie
  • James Kirkwood Jr. as the Captain
  • Patrick Davis as the Old Man
  • Robert V. Barron
    Robert V. Barron
    Robert V. Barron was an American actor best known as the supervising director and the voice of Admiral Donald Hayes in Robotech...

     as the Old Vet
  • Chad Sheets as Jeremy
  • Mark Schneider as Recruit #1
  • Jessie Lawrence Ferguson
    Jessie Lawrence Ferguson
    Jessie Lawrence Ferguson is an American actor born June 8, 1941 in New York City. His first major role was in Starsky and Hutch in 1979.He is best known for his roles in Boyz n the Hood and John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness and Sam Raimi's Darkman.He has also had roles in Star Trek: The Next...

     as Recruit #2
  • David Ault as Soldier on Horse
  • Frank Gaggiano as Union soldier #1
  • Greg Landerer as Union Soldier #2
  • Gary F. Bentley as Union Soldier #3
  • Laura Francis as the Townswoman
  • Nicky Blair as the Townsman

  • Maurice Gibb
    Maurice Gibb
    Maurice Ernest Gibb, CBE was a musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He was born on the Isle of Man, the twin brother of Robin Gibb, and younger brother to Barry. He is best known as a member of the singing/songwriting trio the Bee Gees, formed with his brothers...

    as Union Soldier [uncredited]
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK