The Rage

Fans of trashy horror rejoice, for Robert Kurtzman, the 'K' from awesome effects team KNB, has given us The Rage: a demented, dumb gore-soaked film that manages to go from simply mad in the first half, to completely insane towards the end.

Featuring terrible acting, dodgy CGI effects, and bucket-loads of cheesy gore, this film sure isn't going to be to everyone's taste, but those who dig crazy schlock horror will have a blast: Kurtzman throws in everything but the kitchen sink to guarantee an enjoyable ride for gore-hounds.

Andrew Divoff (who also starred in Kurtzman's The Wishmaster) stars as Dr. Viktor Vasilienko, a Russian scientist who decides to punish capitalist society after a money-hungry drugs conglomerate steals his cure for cancer (because their 'preventative' medicine is far more profitable than a cure), discredits him, and sends him to an insane asylum. Vasilienko eventually escapes and plots revenge, creating a virus called The Rage, which turns victims into uncontrollable bloodthirsty maniacs; only when his cancer cure is publicly acknowledged will he release the antidote.

Things go awry, however, when one of the mad scientist's test subjects escapes into the woods, dies and become vulture fodder: the birds also contract The Rage, and become airborne killers, which is not good news for a bunch of 'twenty-somethings' (including Erin Brown AKA Misty Mundae, star of many a soft-core sex flick) who are travelling through the area in their RV.

With shonky vomiting mad-vulture puppets, a death-during-sex scene (always a winner), a killer hunchback dwarf wearing the face and hair of a little girl (and grunting silly phrases such as 'kiss the monkey'!), giant leech attacks, and CGI feces (seen as a pole is rammed into the ass of a bald, blind 'zombie' called Gor!), The Rage is sheer low-budget lunacy from a film-maker who is obviously having loads of fun entertaining us.

A crazed Russian doctor (Andrew Divoff of Wishmaster) experiments with a deadly new virus that turns people (and birds) into bloodthirsty mutants gets in hot water when the virus gets loose and starts infecting those in the surrounding area creating havoc for a group of teens who were out partying at an outdoor Mushroomhead concert in the nearby woods. Woodenly acted from an awfully stupefying script. The movie quite knowingly seems to be a homage to '80's cult films (mainly Evil Dead & Re-animator), but lacks the wit to pull it off as a good movie itself, despite the presence of otherwise talented Divoff, Erin Brown, and Reggie Bannister (the latter in more or less a cameo). May be perfectly acceptable fodder for 2:15 AM after a night of bar-hopping, but watching it unintoxicated is not really recommended.

Eye Candy: Angela Gasparec gets topless

DVD Extras: Commentary by Director/Writer Robert Kurtzman and writer John Bisson; an 80-minute Making-of featurette; photo stills gallery; 2 music videos by Mushroomhead;and Trailers for "Trailer Park Boys: the movie" & "Big bad Wolf"

If you are a fan of the more splatter-rich film experience, then THE RAGE is the perfect choice. It's filled with nearly nonstop gushy action, when a secret serum turns normal, law-abiding citizens into slobbering, gore-craving insaniacs!

THIS INCLUDES: #1- Flesh-devouring mutant maniacs! #2- Axes, hammers, and screwdrivers stuck in various craniums! #3- Mad-mad science! #4- Flocks of puppet / CGI turkey vultures! #5- A raving, raging Reggie Bannister!

Yep, this is a rip-roaring masterwork of messy mayhem...

I am not sure why this movie is only at 4.4? Sure its the quality of the re-animator or from beyond, but those where great "B" movies. So is this and the effects with the exception of the vultures are pretty good! This movie is gruesome from start to finish and only truly tasteless once.

The sort of bad:

The vultures? Who the hell thought up those and how much was spent on them? Not much! But the juxtaposition between their violence and comical look actually added to the sur-realness of the mayhem.

The pretty good:

Plenty of gore and blood in this little gem of a "B" movie. And good scene chewing by Andrew Divoff, he is great! The rest of the cast are pretty good too. Everything about this movie is over the top and every death is a gory one.

There is a lot of entertainment to be had in this movie if you do not take it seriously, and who could? But just watch it for what it is: a classic "B" gore fest along the lines of the re-animator.

I really love the first Wishmaster movie. I even think that the second one is really good too. Both are with Andrew Divoff, who I had the pleasure of meeting personally at a convention. But more about that on a forthcoming Wishmaster review. Andrew Divoff plays a Russian scientist, that's all I'm going to say (which doesn't spoil anything), but never fully develops any of his previous screen charisma (apparent especially in the Wishmaster movies, but also in smaller roles (see Brisco County Jr. and others).

Robert Kurtzman, who also directed the first Wishmaster movie, and was part of the famous KNB-FX Group (K being his initial of course), alone was a guarantee that the movie would be good ... well at least that's what I thought ... boy was I wrong! Relying on CGI rather than on "hands-on" Special FX, which Kurtzman could've done himself (and pretty good) was one of the baddest decision he could make ... saying it looks fake, would be a disgrace to the word "fake".

The acting? Apart from the aforementioned Divoff, there's only Reggie Bannister who could work as a saving Grace. But the Phantasm star, doesn't have a chance to do so ... But then again, it's not the most original script they're working with, so I don't know, if you really can blame any of the actors (well maybe some of them at least). Of course, a movie like this does not rely on acting and or a fancy story. But as the CGI doesn't work, but against the movie, the sparse real effects, cannot elevate this experience into any level, that makes it really feel like entertainment. It's bloody alright, but you can and should expect more than that! Not to mention that the soundtrack (sounds) can and do get pretty annoying! Problem if you watch it at a theater? You can't turn the volume down, neither fast forward! But just because you can at home, doesn't mean you should try it ... I strongly recommend against that!

Of course there are movies, worse than that (quite a few actually), but this also isn't an argument and/or point that works for the movie! I really hate to say it, but stray away from this movie (I didn't even get into the video quality and other stuff)