BAD BIOLOGY (2008)

Bad Biology (2008)
Directed by: Frank Henenlotter
Written by: Frank Henenlotter, R.A. The Rugged Man
Starring: Anthony Sneed, Charlee Danielson

BAD BIOLOGY (2008)
Directed by Frank Henenlotter
Available from Severin Films as a Special Edition Box set or standard edition Blu-ray

Jennifer isn’t any ordinary woman. She has seven clitoruses. Her need to feed her rampant sexual appetite has led to a series of one night stands but she’s beginning to get fed up of this arrangement. She wants to be loved and to love someone. She’s sick and tired of the mutant offspring she produces in a matter of hours following unprotected sex that she happily casts aside or leaves behind. She believes her blessing of having seven arousal areas is a gift from God and he has a higher purpose for her. During a photoshoot she’s holding for a music album, she discovers the owner of the building they’re shooting at is also hiding an intimate secret of his own; one that’s  many inches long and has a mind of its own. Could he be the answer to all her problems?

Frank Henenlotter’s first film since Basket Case 3 – seventeen years later in fact – BAD BIOLOGY is a sex horror comedy that is every bit as trashy as you’d expect, and more, from the man that brought us FRANKENHOOKER and BRAIN DAMAGE.

Not shy about laying the cards on the table right away, the story introduces us to Jennifer and her ‘unique’ features from the opening scene as she stands at a bar, eyeing up her next sexual conquest. A voiceover from Jennifer herself fills us in on her pleasure quest and her appetite for men. It seems she’s looking for a certain type of man to fulfil her every need and she has many to satiate. What we don’t expect is how overpowering she can be as a lover and her biological ‘gift’ (or should that be ‘curse’?) has more than a few side-effects, none of which are desirable traits to have. Despite her upbeat attitude, she’s fed up of her situation and longing to find a man who will understand her and satisfy her carnal desires.

Working as an erotic photographer, Jennifer is in the prime career to find herself a mate but even the scene assistants aren’t good for much other than a quick screw. Little does she know that across town, a young man named Batz is struggling to handle his own asset. After an incident as a baby left his penis unequipped to do the job it’s intended for, Batz turned to self-medicating. However, years of steroid abuse and pharmaceutical testing has left him with a monster in his trousers that he’s struggling to control. With a mind of its own and a drug-dependency to boot, Batz has to keep his phallus medicated in order to keep it docile. However, with a schlong so big and unruly, he finds sexual partners are hard to come by. A chance meeting between Batz and Jennifer sees their paths collide… could this be their happy ever after?

With a story that thrusts sex into the spotlight, you can expect plenty of nudity from BAD BIOLOGY. From naked women to pornos, you don’t have to wait long for a flash of nudity to appear on-screen. When Batz isn’t in his bedroom with porn movies casually on in the background, we have Jennifer directing a photoshoot for a hip-hop album with naked models wearing vagina masks. Wherever you look, there’s some reference to sex or sexual organs. However, there’s plenty of opportunity for the film to have some fun with their sexually-themed plot. In a highly amusing scene, we see exactly what happens when Batz’ beast is unleashed during a sexual encounter, leaving his lady friend with an orgasm she’ll never forget. But the real laugh-out-loud moment comes when his member, fed up of Batz’s inability to fulfil its wishes, decides to take matters into its own and goes on a rampage, penetrating skirting boards on the hunt for scantily clad ladies.

Charlee Danielson is perfect as Jennifer and brilliantly delivers the black comedy vibe the film is going for, bringing in a blend of darkness to her character as she balances life, pleasure, birth and death. Jennifer is a complicated woman and Danielson’s performance and conviction helps to make this film as funny as it is, particular in the early scenes of the movie when she takes a few dates home. Elsewhere, Anthony Sneed plays Glen ‘Batz’ as a sympathetic, troubled individual who just wants to be normal. He knows he’s a freak but he has urges like every other male, but his problematic penis is becoming too difficult for even him to handle. From the audience’s point of view, you want these two to work when they finally meet, but as we’ve already seen from events leading up to this moment, things don’t necessarily run smoothly.

A lurid sleazefest that doesn’t require much brainpower, BAD BIOLOGY provides just enough laughs, visual gags and daftness to appeal to the Henenlotter fanbase. It doesn’t hit the heights of Belial or Frankenhooker but is a familiar and welcome throwback to the trashy cinema we’ve oh so missed.

Rating:

The Severin Film dual format Special Edition Box set includes the film in its newly restored version, scanned in 4K from the camera negative, and a whole host of special features.

Disc 1: 4K UHD

• Commentary With Director Frank Henenlotter, director of photography Nick Deeg and actor Anthony Sneed
• Archival commentary with Frank Henenlotter and producer R.A. The Rugged Man Thorburn

Disc 2: Blu-ray

• Commentary with Frank Henenlotter, Nick Deeg and Anthony Sneed
• Archival commentary with Frank Henenlotter and producer R.A. The Rugged Man Thorburn
• Spook House – Interviews with Frank Henenlotter and R.A. The Rugged Man Thorburn, production coordinator Michael Shershenovich, Nick Deeg, retired detective David Henenlotter and production manager Chaz Kangas
• In The Basement With Charlee Danielson – A brief, completely off-kilter interview with the elusive Miss Charlee Danielson and a Basketball
• Deeg and Sneed – A Conversation between Nick Deeg and Anthony Sneed
• Swollen Agenda – Interview with make-up effects artist Gabe Bartalos
• Beyond Bad – Behind the Scenes of Bad Biology
• F*ck Face – Photographer Clay Patrick McBride runs around the director’s apartment filming guys making their ‘O Face’
• SUCK – A wonderfully twisted short film by Anthony Sneed
• Legendary Loser – Music Video by R.A. The Rugged Man
• Thorburn Image Gallery – publicity pics, behind-the-scenes shots, video covers and death pix