The Big Picture

• Shocking Dark shamelessly plagiarizes from James Cameron's Terminator and Aliens to sell itself as a knockoff version of the popular films.
• The film combines elements from both franchises, but fails to captivate with wooden acting, campy tone, and poor dialogue.
• Despite its flaws, Shocking Dark does have some original and engaging elements, particularly with its post-apocalyptic Venice setting and unique-looking monsters.

These days, it seems like everything James Cameron touches is getting a sequel. From the upcoming Alien: Romulus, which is set to take place before the events of Aliens, to the ever-growing Avatar franchise, which Cameron now envisions to be a seven-part epic, there's no denying the science-fiction filmmaker's long-lasting legacy. And that's not even to mention all the Terminator sequels out there, a franchise Cameron is looking to revisit again in the future. But long before Cameron helmed Terminator 2: Judgment Day, one of the greatest action flicks of all time, there was actually another Terminator sequel that riffed on the original. Well, calling it a sequel is pretty generous, though the 1989 film promoted itself as such. That's right, in the long-standing tradition of B-movie rip-offs that you're likely to find a slew of in the discount bin, the Bruno Mattei-directed Shocking Dark is an Italian-made sci-fi adventure that wanted to live up to the James Cameron name. So buckle in, because this ride is nothing like you imagined it would be.

'Shocking Dark' Branded Itself as 'Terminator 2' Before James Cameron's Sequel

In 1989, James Cameron had yet to pen his long-anticipated follow-up to 1984's The Terminator. This sci-fi horror film was generally well-received by both critics and audiences alike and made waves upon its release, effectively launching Arnold Schwarzenegger into Hollywood stardom. There was no doubt that any continuation of what we saw in The Terminator would be just as exciting as the original, and while rumors persisted that Cameron was working on a sequel, fans wouldn't get any official confirmation that Terminator 2: Judgment Day was coming until May 1990.

But just a year prior, another film calling itself Terminator 2 dropped that's made waves ever since. That's right, Shocking Dark's original title was Terminator 2 (or Terminator II), and the Italian picture (which had no rightful claim to the name) was released in Europe in 1989. Unsurprisingly, Shocking Dark never saw an official United States release due to the legal issues associated with its original title (which it unashamedly paraded throughout Europe), but it eventually found a cult following of its own. Known as a low-budget knockoff, it wasn't until 2018 that the flick was given a Blu-ray release under its new Shocking Dark title, officially bringing it into the U.S.

In addition to calling the film Terminator 2 up front, the poster itself was a blatant rip-off of the original 1984 Terminator's promotional material. Shocking Dark's resident cyborg Samuel Fuller (Cristopher Ahrens) was displayed prominently on the poster in dark sunglasses (which he never wears in the film) and features an open wound on his cheek that reveals his metallic form beneath. To say that Shocking Dark was attempting to land an audience based on the fan's love of James Cameron's previous work is an understatement, but it goes much deeper down the Cameron rabbit hole than just Terminator.

'Shocking Dark' Steals More From 'Aliens'

But what's fascinating about Shocking Dark is that, despite the title and promotional materials copying The Terminator's success, the plot itself is a more contrived version of James Cameron's other notable sci-fi sequel, Aliens. Just as Aliens follows a group of Colonial Marines onto a planet decimated by Xenomorphs, likewise Shocking Dark follows a group of Megaforce Marines as they investigate an underground facility filled with alien creatures. Though these monsters aren't aliens per se, they exhibit many of the same characteristics as the Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise, including cocooning their victims for later and surrounding their prey unnoticed until the last second.

Additionally, the main protagonist, Dr. Sara Drumble (Haven Tyler), who was likely named as such to reflect Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor, is in many ways a dollar-store discount version of Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley. Not only is she the only non-Marine on the mission (excluding their cyborg companion, of course), but she becomes something of a surrogate mother to the young Samantha (Dominica Coulson), the Newt-ish character who, for some unexplained reason, was trapped in this facility alongside these horrid creatures. Though, the way Samantha screams, it's a wonder that they didn't capture her earlier...

In a behind-the-scenes interview on the official Blu-ray with screenwriter Claudio Fragasso and co-writer Rossella Drudi, the pair reveals what anyone who has seen both Aliens and Shocking Dark already knew: they knowingly plagiarized from James Cameron's Alien sequel. It's not hard to see here, as many of the scenes in Shocking Dark don't just feel similar to moments from Aliens but are exact word-for-word recreations. The moment when Marine Koster (Geretta Giancarlo), who commits here as a campier version of Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein) from Aliens, discovers the victims held up by these strange creatures is exactly the same as what we remember from Cameron's film, complete with the same "please, kill me" dialogue.

'Shocking Dark' Is a James Cameron Hybrid That Doesn't Work

Of course, Shocking Dark takes as much from the original Terminator as it does from James Cameron's other sequels, and even tries to blend ideas from both franchises together. Samuel Fuller, for instance, is meant to be a Bishop (Lance Henriksen) or Kane (John Hurt) figure from the Alien films, hiding his true identity as a replicant (to steal from yet another '80s sci-fi staple, Blade Runner) from the Marines, he represents the (totally) Tubular Corporation and exists to serve their goals above those of the mission. This is exactly what Kane and Bishop are programmed by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation to do in their respective Alien films, though Bishop transcends into something more heroic. The same could definitely not be said of Fuller here.

The moment he's revealed to have ulterior motives, Fuller goes full-Terminator on the Megaforce Marines, tearing them apart before chasing Sara and Samantha through the underground complex. The entire sequence feels straight-up lifted from The Terminator, and the final act centers around this entire conflict. It isn't until Sara finds a time machine that sends her and Samantha to the not-so-distant past that they believe they're safe. They should probably have watched The Terminator, since the whole premise is that the cyborg comes back, too. They do eventually defeat Fuller, either by sending him somewhere in time or frying his system (the film leaves that up for debate), but not before he comes back to the past to try and kill them once more.

While the creativity involved in merging two franchises that are so different into one singular 90-minute film is impressive (you know, aside from the blatant plagiarization), Shocking Dark ultimately fails to captivate its audience. More than that, it often fails to entertain. The wooden acting, campy tone, unbelievable worldbuilding, and poor dialogue don't do this film any favors, and it's no wonder it never made it to the United States. No, it does not live up to the Terminator 2 title, but Shocking Dark does fit the film a little better. After all, it is shocking if you're expecting to see a good movie.

‘Shocking Dark’ Is Only Interesting When It Tries To Be Original

One thing worth noting about Shocking Dark's strange plot is that there are actually some original and engaging elements to it. If you can look past the silly costumes and horrendous dialogue, Shocking Dark centers on a post-apocalyptic Venice where pollution has led to the creation of Creature from the Black Lagoon-like monsters. That's an interesting idea and one that the film could've leaned more into instead of working so hard to be the next Terminator or Aliens. No, that wouldn't have fixed the issues in character development or other plot inconsistencies (like surprise time travel at the end), but it might've made Shocking Dark a more thoughtful and engaging B-picture.

That said, the monsters themselves are truly unique-looking and look great on screen. While a lot of them have an appearance somewhat akin to the Man-Thing character from Marvel Comics, others look like froggish demons that have clawed their way from the great beyond. Additionally, the Tubular Corporation's involvement in the creation of these monsters is something that could've been further explored too, and possibly hidden a bit better, so that we didn't predict the ending the moment Fuller, representing the company, shows up. Though, as we mentioned earlier, if you've seen Aliens, you already know the plot anyway.

Shocking Dark is available to watch on Tubi in the U.S.

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