‘Bad Biology’ 4K UHD Review
Stars: Charlee Danielson, Anthony Sneed, Remedy, Tom Kohut, James Shell, Vivian Sanchez, R.A. The Rugged Man, Ginger Starr, J-Zone | Written and Directed by Frank Henenlotter
Director Frank Henenlotter is a cult horror legend. But after making the cult classics Basket Case, Brain Damage, Basket Case 2, Frankenhooker and finally, Basket Case 3, he disappeared. After 17 years in 2008, he returned and made another film, the black comedy (kinda) body horror Bad Biology. And now, almost another 17 years later again, Bad Biology is getting a 4K UHD release from Severin Films.
Bad Biology, like the director’s previous work, is not a movie you’ll easily forget:
Driven by biological excess, a man and a woman search for sexual fulfilment, unaware of each other’s existence. Unfortunately, they eventually meet, and the bonding of these two very unusual human beings ends in a god awful love story.
That description only scratches the surface of the madness underneath though…
If you’ve never seen any of Henenlotter’s work, Bad Biology might not be the best place to start. This is a dark comedy which might take it too far for some – abortion is played for laughs here – so you have been warned. The female in the story, Jennifer (Charlee Danielson) is a homicidal nymphomaniac whose need for sex is like a vampire needing blood of sorts. She describes it as stopping a burning pain inside of her. She has sex and then disposes of her partner immediately after or during the act. Sometimes, as we see, in very bloody and violent ways. She often gets pregnant after these one-night stands but her pregnancy lasts two hours and we quickly witness her giving birth and then getting rid of the mutant baby. I actually believe the director was (rightly) a bit cautious about this. The first time we see it, it does feel quite shocking, and I think to counter that he has the character turn to the camera and tell the audience not to be shocked because ‘this isn’t a normal baby’. Danielson gives everything in this role. It’s a performance that needed someone to go all in and she absolutely does that.
The male character is Batz (Anthony Sneed) has a monstrous penis with a mind of its own. Initially, this part of the film feels a bit more serious, as does the acting, but it soon heads towards B-movie exploitation cinema. Sneed is also very good in the role, as were the actors playing the supporting roles around his character.
While Bad Biology is far from a standard mainstream movie for the first hour, it steps up the carnage even more in its final third. Once the build-up to the two characters meeting starts, all hell breaks loose. The monstrous penis detaches from the guy’s body, and, when I said the actors gave it their all, this is when they do, as we see Jennifer trying to resuscitate a near-dead giant penis in various ways including mouth-to-mouth. This is the kind of movie you are getting… in case you weren’t already sure!
Bad Biology hasn’t quite received the cult status of Henenlotter’s earlier work but maybe that will change with this new release. As well as the film in 4K, Severin’s latest release features commentaries, interviews, behind-the-scenes, an extra short film and much more. For fans of Henenlotter this is a must-own set, while newcomers might need to know the kind of crazy, ‘trash’ (I mean that in the best way), grindhouse black comedy movie this is!
Bad Biology is available from today on 4K UHD from Severin Films.
