The film begins with Tony Todd as Shadow in prison awaiting to be put to death for countless crimes of murder and rape. His teeth are honed into points. During his execution some supernatural stuff happens and a prison riot ensues. Todd and the corpses of his inmates are place in a mass grave....We now flash forward 20 years to the present. It is now a woman's prison complete with a sadistic lesbian guard (Andrea Langi), shower scene, horny doctor and the new tough girl, Solitaire. Solitaire ends up in solitaire where she touches a carving in the floor made by Todd. She has visions of the ghastly images of his crimes including the torture and killing of a pregnant woman. Misty Mundae (credited as Erin Brown) plays Crystal, the prison girlfriend of Mondo, Solitaire's nemesis.When blood is spilled on the ground where Todd is buried...all zombie hell breaks loose.occasional f-bomb, minor sex, lesbian themes, full frontal nudity (only when tasteful and necessary for the plot), girls with tramp stamps, a baby from "It's Alive" (they wanted to make sure everything was covered) excessive blood and gore. Grindhouse cult classic. Deleted scenes include tasteful extended shower scenes. Not for everyone. A Misty Mundae prison girl zombie film, a must for discriminating collectors.

I saw a trailer for this film at the Horrorfind Convention in Baltimore this past year, and it looked like some ode to 70s WIP exploit films with some gore and sleaze. I guess they showed all the good parts in the trailer. SHADOW: DEAD RIOT is a disappointing pseudo-exploit mess that is really no better than any other STV crap that's out there nowdays...Tony (CANDYMAN) Todd plays some fake dread-locked voodoo guy that is a death-row killer. His daughter ends up at the same jail 20 years later, and a bunch of dumb sh!t happens. Oh- and there's a flying mutated cannibal baby...I really got nothing' to say about SHADOW: DEAD RIOT. I was hoping for a ton of sleazy nudity and a rack of gore, and I didn't get it. There is SOME nudity, and even a little full-frontal - but I guess I set my standards a bit too high on this one. Misty (Erin Brown) Mundae makes an appearance too, which was nice - but didn't save the film. The flying mutated cannibal baby (which only makes a brief appearance) is definitely the highlight of the film. Too "by-the-numbers", not enough gratuitous sex/nudity (though there were plenty of slutty, big-jugged hos in the film...), and there were a few OK gore scenes, but not enough. A total "pass", unless you're drunk on a Sunday afternoon with nothing' else to watch...4/10

This movie incorporated at least 3 genres:women's prison,oriental action, and ghoulish horror. In that respect, it was an adventurous 90 minutes! While Tony was his usual imposing self, the guy playing Dr. Swann struck some realistic chords. He let his motivation for power and sex come through slowly and built up to the final climax.Given the ambitious nature of the film, the cast did the best job they could with minimal dialogue and tough action sequences. Speaking of the action, it was done in a way familiar to those who know Asian action films -- fast, violent, and well interspersed throughout the film. Carla Green looked great in a demanding physical role and I'd love to see more of her! As in many of these kinds of movies, maybe they tried to please too many people, but I'd love to see a sequel

You wouldn't think this could go so badly. An execution in a prison goes horribly wrong and the dude explodes but not before having completed some odd ritual. Twenty years later, the same place is now a womens correctional facility....cue zombies coming back to life and rampaging the ladies. Actually , sounds okish, huh? Well, if you've got a bunch of mates over and have opened a few beers, you might get a kick out of the terrible acting, dialogue & SFX. I didn't really think they made films like this anymore, it must have been filmed on a shoe-string budget, although some of the choreography in the fight seems isn't too bad.Even for a die hard zombie film fan this holds little appeal as its only in the last 30 minutes that they actually appear. You have to sit through an hour of pre-amble, setting up decidedly one-dimensional characters who you know are just gonna get ravaged anyhow.Of note are the lengthy shower scenes (w00t) and the zombie baby (Brain dead anyone?)