The Supernaturals (1986) User Reviews

I was right the first time...

[Vomitron_G · 4/10 · 9 February 2009]

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.

Decent attempt at a zombie flick.

[gridoon · 5/10 · 21 December 2002]

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. (**)

"I joined the army to party in Europe."

[lost-in-limbo · 5/10 · 6 March 2011]

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.

You'll like it. Not much, but you'll like it.

[The Yeti · 6 March 2002]

This is another movie to put on the ALRIGHT chart. Scottish-born Maxwell Caulfield and Star Treks Nichelle Nichols go down to the woods and get a big surprise. No, not Jason, ZOMBIES! A force that has brought back the dead confederate soldiers to wreak revenge on some recruits. The direction isn't up to much, the story is quite shoddy and the characters are wimps apart from the 2 listed above. The scares of being chased through the woods are quite enjoyable and the shoot-outs are quite good. But to be honest, I've seen more gore in Scooby-Doo than in this! 5.5 out of 10.

Nichelle Nichols

[JoeB131 · 4/10 · 9 November 2014]

There was this sad, short period after the first Good Trek films came out and before we got saturated with bad Star Trek TV shows that the actors of Star Trek tried to cash in on their names in cheap films.

This was one of them.

Nichelle Nichols plays an Army Sergeant bringing a small group of troops out to the middle of the woods. Which never actually really happens in the Army. They immediately encounter the zombies of Confederate Soldiers who proceed to pick them off like nice plot device monsters.

And that's kind of it.

Nichols is the only thing anyone can remember in this movie, and the word we are looking for is "miscast".

Nichols should have stayed on the Enterprise

[loomis78-815-989034 · 4/10 · 5 April 2013]

This opens with a scene from the civil war as a unit forces an enemy unit through a minefield where most of them die. It then jumps to the present day where a group that shares the same regiment number is doing maneuvers in the same area. These horny dope smoking fools are lead by Sgt Hawkins (Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols) and are really just a bunch of misfits in uniform. After a long period of time, the dead regiment is stirred awake as zombies/ghosts and begin their revenge on the group of army fools. The slow going plot and idiot characters make the first part of this movie challenging to stay with. Writers Joel Soisson and Michael S. Murphey don't give director Armand Mastroianni much to work with as everything in this production seems very flat. Special effects artist Mark Shostrom does provide some cool looking zombie/ghosts and there is some gore to speak of. There are some touches of atmosphere and a few creepy moments but they come way too late to save this mediocre horror film. Nichols should have stayed on the Enterprise

A huge letdown

[Woodyanders · 5/10 · 16 June 2006]

1865: A sadistic Union army commander forces several Confederate soldiers to walk across a minefield, brutally slaughtering the whole luckless lot of 'em in the process. 1985: A small group of raw Army recruits go into the same backwoods territory where the massacre occurred for basic maneuvers. The motley assortment of scruffy grunts discover the hard way that the eerie land is crawling with vicious, inhospitable, creepily cadaverous skull-faced zombies who don't take kindly to any trespassers on their sacred terrain. The zoms are still alive because a little psychic boy who witnessed the massacre in 1865 refuses to let the poor buggers die. The kid's beautiful, still alive mother (the strikingly comely Margaret Shendal) falls for nice guy GI Ray (hunky Maxwell Caulfield of "Grease 2" and "The Boys Next Door" fame) while the other less lucky squad members get stiffed by the shambling undead Civil War ghouls.

Although the seemingly can't miss premise -- a genuinely inspired fright film amalgam of "2000 Maniacs," "Southern Comfort" and "Night of the Living Dead" -- promises a good, spooky "high concept" horror movie outing, "The Supernaturals" alas qualifies as a humongous letdown due largely to a terribly dry and rudimentary execution. Director Armand Mastroianni, the same guy responsible for the awfully boring slasher turkey "He Knows You're Alone," crucially fails to build any necessary tension or momentum, thus allowing this dud to tediously slog towards a rather drawn-out, less-than-harrowing conclusion. Caulfield, Nichelle Nichols ("Star Trek" 's Lt. Uhura), Levar Burton, Bobby Di Cicco, Talia Balsam, and "Bad Ronald" 's Scott Jacoby all contribute excellent, creditable performances, but not even their considerable acting skills can inject any much-needed vitality into this lifeless, lethargic loser. The nifty, scarcely seen zombie make-up by Mark Shostrom, a typically nice, moody score by the great, grossly under-appreciated B-movie composer Robert O. ("Mansion of the Doomed," "Grizzly") Ragland, and Peter Collister's stately, proficient cinematography are all up to snuff, but sound technical credits can't compensate for this snoozer's unbearably dormant, extremely slow and soporific pacing, conspicuously meager two-cent production values, and a hopelessly muddled, confusing story that isn't unraveled in a clear, compelling manner. Co-written and co-produced by longtime hack horror filmmaker Joel Soisson, this stupendously lackluster Sandy Howard production proves to be as successful at evoking chills and involving the viewer as General Custer was at besting the Indians at the Battle of Little Big Horn.

Mindless fun.

[insomniac_rod · 4/10 · 18 June 2006]

I didn't like this movie although the premise is really good. These post-war zombie movies are very popular and this one is very decent. If done correctly, this movie would have the status of a respectable zombie movie. The cinematography is really good and plays a key part in the most important scenes, for example, the ending.

The f/x are really are cheesy but work for the movie's purpose. Still I can't recommend this movie for it's visuals... in fact, it's a boring movie with a lot of wasted potential.

Watch it only if you get it for free. I catched it on late cable many years ago and I can't say that I regret about it, but I wouldn't watch it again!

Try "Stryker's War" for a more entertaining movie in the likes of this one.

Supernaturals Super-sucks! NOT a horror movie

[ecto216 · 1/10 · 24 October 2002]

To start off, I'd like to know where some one got the idea to label this under "horror"...this is anything but horror! However, it is "horror-ble" The acting sucks, the script must have been written by a wookie, and the special effects are below cheesy, they're worse them some of the stuff full moon studios produces. To anyone interested in renting or watching this film, let me make this abundently clear to you: There are only 5 minutes worth of zombies in this film which really have nothing to do with the story or plot, or lack there of. There is less than 1 minute of gore in this monstrosity too. And most importantly, this isn't even horror! It's really a romantic drama with some added sprinkling of quick makeup and blood, which like I said, is less than 5 minutes of the film. If you're looking for zombies, I suggest moving on to a real movie like Day of the Dead. But for the love of god, don't bother with this stinker. Unfortunately, I cannot give this movie a negative number, so it gets a 1.

So-So movie for night owls who have nothing else to do.

[mjshannon · 3/10 · 26 May 2000]

There was the potential for this to be something quite good, except the script and acting got in the way. The backwoods locales are, for the most part, effective and promising but with Nichelle Nichols as the Sargeant you know your in trouble. Maybe if she just tried to act a little bit instead of sleepwalking through her role another dimension could have been added to this yawner but seeing as how she's not getting much help from her supporting actors(including Star Trek:The Next Generation's LeVar Burton)or limp script, who can really blame her? In the midst of the regular lulls in the action there actually are a few inspired scenes of zombie Confederate troops lumbering across mist enshrouded fields and a scare or two in a well conceived and spooky underground bunker but before anything much happens the movie is over. That the production team does deliver a few rather cool effects and scenes is a credit to their frugality as this was a very cheap film indeed! Maybe they should have saved up a few coppers more and invested in a better script and a director who could get something out of his leads. Oh well, if this is ever on late night TV you might want to tune in for the two or three effective moments,otherwise keep lookin'!

The Supernatural South Is Gonna Rise Again ...

[Coventry · 4/10 · 8 February 2009]

Sigh…despite my many years of training in horror cinema and countless of previous bad experiences, I still get suckered into watching lousy movies because of their appealing and juicy looking VHS cover artwork! I knew absolutely nothing about "The Supernaturals", but purely based on that drawing of a toothless skull wearing a civil army soldier's hat, I simply had to see it! Way to go, Mr. Horror expert… Oh well, at least it isn't the worst genre movie of the 80's, that's for sure. "The Supernaturals" is a mediocre horror outing with a relatively original concept and setting and a handful of memorably worthwhile sequences, but ultimately it lacks the necessary suspense and panache in order to rank among the better achievements of the 80's decade. As stated already in numerous other reviews and user comments, the film effectively borrows the settings and characters of Walter Hill's "Southern Comfort" and H.G. Lewis' "Two Thousand Maniacs". Unfortunately, however, it features neither the claustrophobic atmosphere of the former and nor the outrageously delicious gore effects of the latter. What remains is a nonetheless interesting movie about a platoon of soldiers out on a training excursion in a Southern forest area and suddenly having to battle against seemingly spontaneously resurrected zombie soldiers from the Civil War. Ironically enough, the supernatural elements in "The Supernaturals" are the only ones that don't work. The promising flashback at the beginning hinted that a kid soldier saved his mother thanks to a sudden outburst of supernatural powers on this exact same location during the year 1865, and now he – Jeremy - as well as his mother and the long-dead members of the platoon he was part of still guard over the place. The explanation given to the presence of the zombies is unsatisfying and feels incomplete. This would have been less of a problem if there had been more gory murders and/or straightforward suspense to distract you from the plot. Now, there's little else left to do but wonder about how Jeremy obtained his powers, how exactly does he resurrect the dead and how come he's still alive after more than a century? The middle section is plain dull and I simply cannot comprehend why Armand Mastroianni decided it would be a good idea to make an 80's zombie movie with only a minimum of gore.

Underrated

[Apollyon_Crash · 8/10 · 1 January 2004]

The Supernaturals is a highly flawed, sometimes corny, but occasionally scary film. Although the dialogue is bad, numerous technical mistakes are made (especially the entire nature of military training exercises), and the climax is somewhat confusing, the film maintains an unsettling atmosphere, which is surprising given that the best parts of the film take place in broad daylight. Anyone who likes a ghost story or "living dead" films (this could conceivably fit into either category) should enjoy it.

6/10

We knew that war is ghastly. Now we find that it's also ghostly.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 14 July 2023]

A group of army soldiers on combat training in the woods becomes the intended victims of some evil spirits from the civil war, slaughtered by the north and now seeking vengeance. A prologue gives the viewer enough information to get the back story, and when officer Nichelle Nichols and her troop (which includes a young Maxwell Caulfield) get there, strange occurances begin, leading to the revelation of a fiery pit and even the accidental shooting of fellow recruits.

Definitely one of the spookier thrillers of the 80's and one of the best premises, this may be cheaply made, but cheap doesn't indicate not well planned. The ghost story definitely gives the undead a bit of sympathy even though their methods of revenge does turn them evil. Good visuals and a sparky performance by "Star Trek" vet Nichols whose officer may be tough and no nonsense, but still with the survival of her troop as first priority. This one's surprisingly quite memorable.

A low rent time waster

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 13 August 2018]

Armand Mastroianni brought us the screen debut of Tom Hanks in He Knows You're Alone. Here, he combines a cast of people who will make you say, "Hey isn't that..." and puts them up against an army of undead Confederate soldiers.

During the Civil War, a Confederate town is taken over and all of the soldiers are ordered to walk a minefield, including young Jeremy, who is forced to do so because he has on the uniform. Only he and his mother survive.

Fast forward to 1986, where the Army's 44th division - the same one that screwed over the southern soldiers in the past - are conducting war games under the command of Sgt. Leona Hawkins (yes, that's Nichelle Nichols from Star Trek). There's also Pvt. Ellis (Maxwell Caulfield, Rex Manning himself from Empire Records), Pvt. Lejune (Talia Balsam, Crawlspace and the first wife of George Clooney, as well as the daughter of Psycho's Martin Balsam), Pvt. Osgood (Levar Burton, uniting the original and TNG Star Trek casts), Pvt. Cort (Bobby Di Cicco, The Philadelphia Experiment), Pvt. Mendez (Scott Jacoby from Bad Ronald) and Maurice Gibb in a cameo as a Union soldier (he also wrote a soundtrack that wasn't used).

Of course, someone screws around in the woods and the undead rise to claim the living. Everything feels rather low rent, which is fine, because the actual zombies look rather good and the reveal of who is behind the actual return of the dead is rather interesting.

This is way better than it should be and in the hands of a better director would have been pretty interesting. As it is, it'll definitely pass an afternoon.

"I've never seen a white boy run like that!"

[Backlash007 · 11 November 2001]

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.

Far Worse Than I Remember It!

[filmbuff1974 · 5/10 · 15 September 2011]

I had seen "The Supernaturals" the year it was released as part of a triple feature at a Times Square grind house and thought for a top billing movie it was pretty bad.

I've been pointedly watching a lot of eighties movies that I missed and ones that I saw and decided to watch again. For the most part, I had been pleasantly surprised to discover many of the awful eighties movies I'd re-watched were better than I had recalled them. "The Supernaturals" is not one of these.

Avoid this turkey and save your time with something else. This movie is just badly done and not at all in a "so bad, it's good" way. You've been warned!

low on the horror

[trashgang · 3/10 · 1 June 2011]

This is a perfect example of a flick that had many promotions but failed at the box office. I have even seen a article of 2 pages in an old fangoria concerning this flick, so go figure out. The picture in Fangoria were okay and made me think, it's going to be bloody. But I was wrong. Not that it was badly shot, it was all done in a proper way but it takes too long before the zombies arrive. The zombies themselves looks really okay and the effects used as they are dismembered are also really well done. It's even a bit funny with a hacked off hand keeping attacking ones throat and one soldier being killed by the remains of a slashed arm of a zombie. But as I said, it takes too long before they actually attack. The supernatural effects are out dated. The idea was okay and can be related to 2000 maniacs in some ways. It never had a proper release and is only available on ex-rental NTSC VHS.

The cover art is better than the movie

[highlifeman80 · 5/10 · 20 August 2022]

The VHS cover (confederate skull wearing sunglasses, which actually does figure into a couple scenes) is much cooler than the movie. The concept of civil war zombies attacking a modern day (1980s) army platoon in training seems like it can't miss, but somehow it does. Notable for starring Star Trek's Uhura as a no-nonsense drill sergeant and Geordi La Forge as a troop soldier. The zombies look alright (particularly at the end) but it's all shot like a weak TV movie. Maybe a decent Blu-ray or 4K of it would give it a more film-like look. This didn't even get a DVD release. It's just an OK flick.

Boring. Wish it was more interesting. Nice Cinematography.

[allenfromfalmouth · 3/10 · 23 September 2018]

Not much happens in this movie. The undead confederates looked cool; bald with patchy, wispy hairs. I also liked the cinematography.

The locations were very cool and eerie and there were a lot of artistic shots, but everything in between wasn't very interesting. There were some kills with decent special effects near the end but nothing particularly memorable.

Set phasers on stunningly bad.

[BA_Harrison · 3/10 · 18 October 2018]

How cool does this sound?... While on tactical manoeuvres, an army division (led by Lt. Uhura and including Geordi La Forge) is attacked by the reanimated corpses of civil war Confederate soldiers who, in 1865, were forced to walk across a minefield by a cruel Yankee officer.

Incredibly, director Armand Mastroianni takes this blinder of a premise - Southern Comfort meets Night of the Living Dead meets 2000 Maniacs- and makes one hell of a dull horror out of it. Too much of the film focuses on the soldiers as they trek through the woods and set up camp, and when the zombies eventually make an appearance there is a distinct lack of juicy gore, Mastroianni clearly aiming for eeriness and atmosphere, back-lighting his zombies and shrouding them in fog. Unfortunately, all he really achieves is boredom.

The really silly ending sees Private Ray Ellis (Maxwell Caulfield) convincing Jeremy, the only survivor of the minefield massacre and now a very old man, to end the horror by sending his vengeful mother, an immortal witch, to the afterlife. It makes about as much sense as it sounds.

Super missed opportunity is more like it

[udar55 · 5/10 · 7 September 2009]

A group of Army recruits (led by STAR TREK's Nichelle Nichols) head into the Kentucky woods for a weekend of training. What they don't expect to run into are some zombie Confederate soldiers led by the ghost of a lady who just happened to be married to Pvt. Ray Ellis (Maxwell Caulfield) in an earlier life. You still with me? While the set up of Confederate zombies seems great, don't get your hopes up as director Armand Mastroianni decides not to go all out. The film should have been more RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD and less what it is now. The biggest problem is that it takes place over a series of days, when it should have taken place in one night. The leads to a series of build ups and screeching halts that really drag the film's pace down. Also, the zombies should have been the focus but they are an afterthought and mostly obscured. Instead, we get this mystery woman - who no one questions why she is in a nightgown in the middle of the woods - and some mumbo jumbo regarding her son (who has some kind of magical powers that make his hands glow and also lived into the 1980s after a 1864 prologue!). Probably the most interesting thing about the film is seeing Nichols alongside future STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION star LeVar Burton. Co-starring Martin Balsam's daughter Talia.

They said that The South is gonna rise...

[GOWBTW-5STARreviewer · 8/10 · 16 August 2022]

The Deep South, full of historic memories.

The Civil War is one of them. North vs. South. The Union soldiers have successfully surrounded the Confederates. However, they are extreme when they force the enemy to walk across their own fields without setting off their mines. Many of them do, including the son of a deceased soldier.

Years later, a new unit visit the old site to camp and they would get more than they bargain for.

With a tough as nails sergeant(Nichelle Nichols) no one ever got on her bad side. It's a nightmare for everyone when everyone in their squad has been killed by an unknown enemy. The enemy is the zombiefied Rebel soldiers. The source of the vengeful evil is the young man who gained the power to keep his mother alive and young.

This movie is for a rainy day. It has a early "Star Trek" Star, and a future Next Generation star. Levar Burton from "Roots" and "Reading Rainbow" fame plays one of the soldiers.

The movie could use a little more work. It was a little too tame.

2 out of 5 stars.

Giving it 7/10 for one reason

[neontayto · 7/10 · 12 January 2021]

Is this movie good... n...no LOL! But I'm giving it 7/10 because of one dang good reason. My husband says ".........Evan........." CONSTANTLY! He watches this movies once every maybe 3 years but does the sultry whisper "...Evan..." probably 300 times a year. It gets me every time! We Don't even know an Evan but he does it anyway. It's not even close to being a good movie, but there's certain things that are just great to make fun of.

Very cheesy...

[WritnGuy-2 · 12 September 1999]

I am a huge fan of zombie movies, so, when I found this one, I jumped to the chance of renting it. And then I knew I made a bad choice.

The movie is about a group of army recruits being led into the backwoods by their head sergeant, Uhura from Star Trek. And I'll be damned if this wasn't another sequel to those Police Academy movies or something. From that marching band music, to goofy acting, to constant joking, and so on, I was really thinking this was like the 8th sequel, "Assignment in Alabama" or something. And that wasn't a good sign.

Eventually, some "supernatural" stuff starts to happen, relating back to some flashback of a kid walking through a minefield with all these Confederate soldiers, only to have all of them blown away, except for him. A very cheesy scene. There's this woman the group finds, and apparently, they have no questioning as to who she really is, or what she's doing there. She's just with them now.

I was starting to fall asleep until finally some guy got killed by two zombies in an underground bunker. Then there's that, "We've found a body, now let's find the killer" scheme until finally, that night, there is...yes...a shoot-out between zombies--which we barely ever see--and the recruits, who are getting killed left and right. But it's no bloodbath.

There's a lot of scenes with this one guy and the zombies, while Uhura and some other chick hide behind rocks with a few other survivors and shoot at zombies. It was all really lame, until the terrible ending that had nothing resembling a climax. And then it ended. We saw an equivalent of ten zombies in the whole movie, uninteresting deaths, and basically no horror. Skip this one. It's not only a bad zombie movie, it's a bad horror movie in total.

The Confederate Dead.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 7/10 · 1 February 2012]

I remember seeing "The Supernaturals" on cable TV during my childhood.The film left some memories,so it was the highest time to check it out after so many years.The prologue starts in 1865.A group of confederate soldiers is captured by the Yankees and forced to walk across a minefield.All of them die with an exception of a young boy.The year is 1986.A group of young soldiers led by Nichelle Nichols is camping in the woods.When the night begins the confederate zombies appear and start killing recruits one by one.It's up to Maxwell Caufield to save his platoon."The Supernaturals" is competently made and well-acted zombie flick.The film is relatively goreless as all the killings are off-screen.Still if you liked Tony Malanowski's "The Curse of the Screaming Dead" you may give this one a try.7 Civil War zombies out of 10.