OBJECTIVES: I. Compare survival following immunotherapy with an allogeneic melanoma vaccine plus interferon alfa-2b (IFN-A) vs. IFN-A alone in patients with metastatic melanoma. II. Assess the safety and toxicity of immunotherapy with an allogeneic melanoma vaccine plus IFN-A in these patients. III. Compare the frequencies of durable complete responses in each treatment group. IV. Compare overall clinical objective response, duration of response, and time to disease progression in each treatment group. V. Compare the effects of immunotherapy with an allogeneic melanoma vaccine plus IFN-A vs IFN-A alone on quality of life in these patients.