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.

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.

Actually, make that 35 Years Ago, or SOOO VERY 80s.

The poster promised a werewolf-ish type movie and it was 80s so should be all practical (yea!!)...unfortunately, while it began as 28 Days Later, it ended up being The Beast Within meets Return of the Living Dead. And did I mention it was SOOO VERY 80s? You could show this in a history class for that decade. I wanna bet John Hughes did a rewrite or ghost-directed.

Ahhh, University life with buds, dormmates, parties and unintentionally evil experiments on baboons. The human equivalent of the primate gets bitten and while short beast-bursts happen, he loves to spread the "blessing."

Cannot believe this 1988 film didn't sue 28 Days Later. It's so incredibly stolen, down to the name of the disease made from the experiments is "Rage Virus" - the same name and M. O. in 28 Days Later in 2002. It worked when Parts: The Clonus Horror sued the plagiarized The Island. That was worse tho, since it was 100% scene-by-scene stolen.

Still, I liked it. The EXTREME campiness, the 100% 80s time capsule and surprisingly very effective gore. One scene in particular, "Hey, nice costume!!" to be precise, really freaked me out - and that's not easy after the 10,000 horror movies I've seen.

If you like virus-infected, 80s romps, this is perfect for you. I seriously can't believe I've never heard about this movie in the 35 years it's been out until tonight. I do love finding some gems randomly.

***

Final Thoughts: That all said, there are numerous flaws and unintentionally hilarious scenes. The two full-length song scenes (montages?) had me rolling with the fact the went the entire 4-5-minute song length. Like, "We bought the rights, we're dang gonna use it all." TWICE.

Virtually a little unknown b-grade campus-based oddball shocker that's efficiently catered for, but doesn't break any ground with its unspectacular story structure (written by Umberto Lenzi) and systematic thrills, despite its unsparingly nasty tone (which goes overboard in the film's last 30 minutes at a Halloween party) and suitably icky if makeshift make-up FX and special effects (done by Carlo Rambaldi who did such films like; 'Planet of the Vampires (1965)', 'A Bay of Blood (1971)', 'King Kong (1976)', 'Possession (1981)' and 'E.T (1982)'). While two different films, the way the story flowed kind of had me thinking of the 1989 sequel 'Gnaw: Food of the Gods II', but this one wasn't that shonky and campy. Again there's a focus on a cringe-worthy 80s tune, which oddly makes it way in the opening credits (which will have you thinking what am I getting myself into?) and then during the Halloween costume party as the band is performing live. Oh good.

The story sees two college students Sam Nash and Frank Duffy working as journalists for the campus paper, where they suspect a professor there is doing inhumane animal experiments in the quest to restore dead brain cells. So Frank sneaks into the laboratory one night to take pictures, where he encounters a very aggressive baboon that in the process of breaking out bites him. Slowly he begins to feel the effects, he starts forming ugly looking sores and then uncontrollable bursts of raging violence takes over. Soon the virus begins to spread leaving a bloody trail and Sam along with his girlfriend try to put a stop to it.

After quite a slow-going set-up, it goes on to build up a head of steam with some grisly strokes with chaos erupting and a few moments of kinkiness from a couple of ridiculously twisted beef heads. Vittorio Rambaldi direction is efficiently surefooted for its minor budget, but the half-baked execution just lacks that punch where atmosphere isn't projected and the suspense doesn't eventuate too much than just unpleasantly rowdy jolts. Then at the end you get sudden jump scene that comes from nowhere, as like a second thought because they forgot about a character. Claudio Simonetti's wonky score is just like a ragingly spreading virus with primal instincts and Antonio Climati lenses with a professional curtness. The performances are modest with Patrick Lowe and Cheryl Arutt making likable heroines. Sarah Buxton also shines in her part. Bo Svenson presenting a fashionable ponytail makes light work as the devious professor.

Also there's a connection there with some of the cast and crew which saw them do the Italian cash-in of an American influenced slasher 'Nightmare Beach' in the same year.

Passably average, but it does have some twisted novelty moments within.

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-