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 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.

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.

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.