The Shadow Walkers is a Sci-Fi/Horror film that combines elements from films such as Resident Evil, 28 Days Later, and various zombie films. Unfortunately they didn't borrow any writers or better actors to turn Shadow Walkers into anything more than a sub-par Sci-Fi Channel offering (and I'm sure it will turn up there very soon).
A group of lab workers and security personnel at a mammoth genetics research facility awaken to find themselves sealed inside the facility with no memory of who they are or what they do. The group consists of Reeve, a security officer, and Julie, Clay, Leiko and Emily who are all scientists. The facility was performing secret government genetic experiments on humans to increase their strength and resilience and turn them into the perfect fighting machines. Things went awry, however, as the experiments turned the subjects into mutated, bloodthirsty beasts with a mouthful of sharp teeth and razor-like claws.
The military moves in to shut down the facility and release the subjects, ostensibly to kill off the scientists so no one finds out about the experiments, and, hopefully, themselves. The bite from these creatures has the effect of turning the victim into the next generation of mutation, resulting in a less primal, but more intelligent species. In as much as this was a genetic mutation and not a virus, I'm not sure it makes logical sense that a bite would transfer the mutation, but hey...I'm no doctor so I will bow to poetic license. The group has to somehow find their way out of the facility, battling their way through the creatures who stalk them from the shadows.
Plot-wise, the story is pretty well lifted right from the first Resident Evil film, while the mutation makes them similar to the infected in 28 Days Later. The makeup of the creatures is amateurish at best. The beasts all have the same distorted features with the same protruding fangs. There was a good amount of blood and guts for gore fans, and the scattered body pieces to look halfway decent.
The cast is a very inexperienced group with a number of them making their first "big screen" appearance. It definitely shows as their lines are often delivered over dramatically or completely wooden. As the hero, Reeve, Jason Coviello simply doesn't cut an imposing figure as he's short, balding, and seems confused much of the time.
So much of the film doesn't make sense...Why do these bestial creatures with fangs and claws stand toe-to-toe and duke it out with Reeve? Why do the beasts merely skulk in the shadows when they have an advantage not only physically, but also in numbers? The one time they do mass in numbers, they are far enough away that Reeve picks them off one by one with a shotgun?
Another annoyance is with the soundtrack which leaps into dated thrash metal during the fight scenes. So is there anything good about the movie? From a technical standpoint, it's filmed fairly well, and it's got a sense of creepiness to it although this state-of-the-art science facility ends up looking more like the basement of a high school. All in all, there's not much to recommend with Shadow Walkers other than a minor diversion for 90 minutes.
