An astonishing piece of work, even by the standards of 70s/80s Italian ripoff cinema, and a must see for schlock fans, Shocking Dark (AKA Alienators, AKA Terminator 2(!), AKA Death in Venice 2: The Deathening) pilfers from not one but two classics of James Cameron's filmography.
After a vaguely described apocalyptic apocalyptic event (something to do with mutant seaweed sucking the oxygen out of the water - not sure how this affects humans, but never mind) Venice is an abandoned, desolate shell, with a few survivors hiding in secure facilities deep underground. They're not alone though, as a gruesome mutant is roaming the city’s maze of tunnels. A team of soldiers, the Mega Force, go to dispatch it, along with civilian scientist Dr Sara Drumbull and Samuel Fuller (!), a representative of a company called the Tubular Corporation, who is as muscle-bound as he is mysterious.
Throw in a cyborg with half of his face torn off and already you can see some similarities with the work of Cameron. Italian exploitation cinema has a long and noble history of helping itself to ideas and plots from genre hits and writer Claudio Fragasso (the man who brought us the legendary Troll 2) and director Bruno Mattei (Hell of the Living Dead, Rats: Night of Terror), don't merely take the vibe or plotline of Terminator and Aliens, but lift whole scenes and lines of dialogue, shoehorning them in regardless of relevancy or coherence.
The few original elements make no more sense. Venice has been ruined so that property and art prices would (somehow) rocket in value. By the time a plot twist involving a time machine turns up, your brain has been pummelled into submission and will accept anything.
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