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| Brooke Adams and Luke Halpin |
A group of people out on a short chartered boat tour might not wind up on Gilligan's Island, but they probably wish they had. Instead they wind up on an island that is home to an elderly Nazi scientist (Peter Cushing) who tells them how they created unkillable super-soldiers who were meant to be the ultimate weapons. Dead already, these soldiers can stay underwater for hours and stalk the enemy with ultra-extreme stealth. The tourists, including Rose (Brooke Adams), Norman (Jack Davidson) and Beverly (D. J. Sidney), team up with crew members Keith (Luke Halpin) and Dobbs (Don Stout) and try to get off the island before the zombie Nazis can slay them. Shock Waves has a damned good premise but its execution is below mediocre, with too many slack stretches, no real suspense or surprises, and not nearly enough exciting sequences. Of the major younger cast members, Adams makes the best impression and was the only one to have a fairly big career. Of the veterans, Peter Cushing has one of his least interesting roles, and John Carradine, as the captain of the tour boat, is killed off early on. Halpin [Island of the Lost] was most famous for the TV show Flipper.
Verdict: Pretty much a waste of a good idea. **.
2 comments:
I dimly remember hearing about this one but was not old enough to get in when it was released. I do love love love Brooke Adams in the wonderful moody remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers!! Need to watch that one again this Halloween weekend, that is a minor masterpiece! Adams, I believe, retired from acting and is married to Tony Shalhoub.
-C
I didn't know that about Adams. Yes, she was rather distinctive and while I prefer the original, the "Body Snatcher" remake was also a good film. Maybe I'll do a double-feature over the weekend.
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