The Supernaturals is an Original Horror Film, Especially for the 1980s
The Supernaturals combines zombies, the woods, the Civil War and Star Trek Stars. Interesting…
Written by BHM Contributor Ronnie Angel
June 12, 2008
Release: 1986
Directed by: Armand Mastroianni
Written by: Michael S. Murphey and Joel Soisson
Starring:
Maxwell Caulfield as Pvt. Ray Ellis
Nichelle Nichols as Sgt. Leona Hawkins
Talia Balsam as Pvt. Angela Lejune
Bradford Bancroft as Pvt. Tom Weir
LeVar Burton as Pvt. Michael Osgood
What do you get when you combine Zombies, The Woods, Civil War and Star Trek stars? Well, you get an interesting little horror flick called The Supernaturals. Keep in mind I said "interesting", not great.
The Supernaturals is indeed original, and yes "interesting" but I would not consider it great by any stretch. This movie is a must for trekkies who want to see Nichelle Nichols as a badass sergeant and Levar Burton as, well, a token black guy? That’s the best I can come up with on that one. How about a bit of story here?
Nichelle Nichols, who is a tremendous stand-out in this flick,
plays a tough- as- nails drill sergeant leading her group of "soldiers"
into the woods of the Deep South for
"training". What kind of training you ask?
Please, don't… it gives me a headache. You’ll have
to watch this film and find out for yourself. Anyway, where was
I…? Oh, an Army group is in the woods for
“training” and they run into all kinds of
fishiness. First off, a strange woman in white keeps hanging around
seemingly obsessed with one of the soldiers, Private Ellis. Beyond the
woman in white other strange things are discovered in the woods as well
such as Civil War era skulls, old bullets, tons of booby traps, Vortex
type areas and underground tunnels. The most interesting phenomenon is
that the solders keep seeing things – zombie-looking things
that disappear on second glance.
The fleeting visions don’t remain fleeting for long
though as they soon make themselves 
very
well known. A fog rolls in and our group finds themselves right in the
middle of a good old fashioned confederate soldier zombie shootout
(didn’t know zombies could shoot did ya?) and the bodies
start to pile up.
Meanwhile, whilst the other soldiers are getting their asses handed to them by zombies, Ellis finds out the true origin of the woman in white and her newly disclosed son and that revelation could either save the day or destroy it. See? It is interesting to a degree isn't it?
The Supernaturals gets even more odd at the end.
The Supernaturals has bad acting,
horrible effects, cheesy jokes and very little gore, but like I say, it
is interesting. Okay, for the record… some of the zombie
effects are 
decent,
but still. I personally like Civil War history and there is not a whole
lot of civil war horror out there. Not that there is much of a
market for it, but hey, it’s different from the rest of the
pack, especially in the mid 80s, and I can’t complain about
that.
I am not a trekkie at all, but Nichelle Nichols is great in this movie and adds a definite spice to the film. Some of the scenes are well done, especially the scenes that take place under ground. Not all of the characters are bad and yet not all are good.
If you can find this film in the dollar bin or for a cheap rental then you should give it a watch and who knows, you might like it. Overall, like I said before, The Supernaturals is okay… not great. Questions or comments about The Supernaturals? Discuss it on The Ossuary Forums!
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