Rage - Furia primitiva

Primal Rage isn't anything special, some people would consider it really bad but it isn't all that bad. the acting isn't bad but the movie is a bit predictable, the story line is not very original but the movie is entertaining. If you see it in the video store and you can't really find anything else you want to watch Primal Rage is a good substatute. The last half and hour of the movie makes it all very worth while. I gave Primal Rage 7/10.

This low-budget flick was released the same year as Halloween IV, Child's Play, They Live and The Blob--so it's no wonder it flew under the radar of most horror fans at the time.

Cheesy doesn't even begin to describe the acting and writing in this one. You know the stickiness you feel under your shoes when you're in a movie theater in a bad part of town? Find a word for that and it'll probably describe it.

Still, there are some redeeming qualities--mostly the gore and the fact that it doesn't slow down and linger. There's always something going on, and the gore is actually decent for a flick that probably had a budget lower than the average ten-year-old's weekly allowance.

I'll probably never watch it again, but hey, I've seen worse!

So in a plot that almost immediately makes you think of 28 Days Later, a possibly mad scientist inadvertently creates a deadly rabies-like virus while experimenting on the brain of a baboon to try and reanimate dead brain cells or whatever, that gradually transforms its victims into mostly mindless bloodthirsty savages, and when a shaggy-haired young student journalist breaks into the lab looking for a scoop gets bitten by the maddened creature, a slaughter looms unless the infected can be stopped! This frankly wasn't that much of a movie, and I'd never ever heard of it, but I was entertained and engaged enough while watching it, I liked how everything was eighties to the max and everyone had the hair shaped like a helmet and was rocking the colourful and very tight sweatpants! It's probably one of the most eighties horror movies ever made, I found that side of it quite cute! I thought it had a really weird atmosphere, it looked very American, but it felt distinctly like an Italian horror movie, there are certain unmistakable similarities to Argento's Demons movies, like how the fully infected act and when the soundtrack would spontaneously turn into fast metal during the action scenes! Some of the acting was downright bizarre, the trio of crazy bro-bullies who were pretty shameless about their nasty intentions towards the opposite sex are so dumb and over the top they're like live-action cartoons until they get infected and actually become a little scary as they descend on the big Halloween hi-school party like three jacked-up murderous Sketetors! Patrick Lowe was about as wooden and boring as his more famous brother, and he didn't do too much of anything except flee from the savage infected and try to look as cute as possible as he popped up in his silly little red motorbike. The most effective actors in the movie for me were Sara Burton and Mitch Williams as they slowly lost their minds to the rage and struggle not to kill their friends, except for the ridiculous ape sounds that he made! Whether it was because of budget reasons or not, I thought it played it a little safe in terms of the horror, I mean only a handful of people get infected and are killed during the big Halloween bash which I thought was the best part of the movie because I loved the costumes and how some of the movie played into a few of the victims' deaths in a darkly comedic way, it still needed a lot more blood though, which is too bad because when there was gore it was quite brutal and effective! So for me Primal Rage the movie not the video game, is definitely not a good movie but it's a fun entertaining little romp that's very enjoyable in an unintentionally bad kind of way, not nearly amongst the horror greats of the 80s but I liked it for the idea, the goofy 80s fun factor, the infected raving savages are genuinely scary and it's a pretty fun watch. Worth seeing if you never have for a harmless bit of old school bloody horror fun! X.

A professor at a university in Miami (Bo Svenson) is developing a serum that restores dead brain cells using a baboon for testing. When a student is inadvertently bitten, an infection spreads through the campus during a Halloween celebration. Horror thrills ensue.

"Primal Rage" (1988) takes the setting of "Pieces" (1982) and mixes in elements of the Kolchak episode "Primal Scream" (1975) and "Altered States" (1980). It's basically a reimagining of "Monster on the Campus" (1958) for the '80s.

Patrick Lowe makes for a quality male protagonist while Mitch Watson is effective as the edgy student-journalist, who's reminiscent of John Lennon. The flick's worth watching just for winsome Cheryl Arutt (Lauren). Sarah Buxton is also worth noting as Debbie. Meanwhile towering Doug Sloan stands out as the violent bastage on campus, Lovejoy.

The first act works quite well, but the last act devolves into shallow action thrills with a garnishment of horror. Still, the no-name 80's rock/metal soundtrack is kinetic and I always wondered what would happen if someone was under the bleachers when they rolled 'em back.

The film runs 1 hour, 31 minutes, and was shot in Miami, particularly Florida International University.

GRADE: B-

Almost unheard of Warner Bros. pic finds a scientific research monkey biting someone. That person is then turned into a rabid, bloodthristy killer who spreads the virus to anybody that isn't dead that they come in contact with. Half hearted production is not as bad as you would expect, but not by much, this film features good make-up effects and a memorable finale. Rated R; Extreme Graphic Violence and Profanity.