[Bad Biology]
Plot:Follows two frustrated young people driven by biological excess to find the ultimate in sexual pleasure, unaware of each other’s existence. When they finally do meet the results are insanely over the top.

Cast:Anthony Sneed, Charlee Danielson, Rachael Robbins.

My Thoughts:Uh......yeah.

Review:Frank Henenlotter's "Bad Biology" is the tale of two out-of-the-ordinary young people who are searching for the cure to their quote unquote, sexual frustrations. The story is built around said scenario, and a horror/science fiction element is thrown in. As well as a massive nod to some very dark and sexually-tinged humor. The film has shades of "Cherry Falls", and most recently, "Teeth"...as a movie which blends raunchiness and with horror.

Charlee Danielson plays Jennifer, a woman who cannot seem to reach sexual ecstasy no matter how many guys she's with. She also has another..."problem". Which always seem to show up the moment she's done with intercourse. Batz, the male lead in the movie is played by Anthony Sneed. His deal is similar to Jennifer's, but with less repercussions. That is until he acquires some really powerful farm animal drugs from his respective dealer.

Both characters in the film are described as nympho's, but there is far more weirdness and oddness attached to their respective characters which push them far beyond the simple nympho label. I thought the film tried too hard though. "Teeth", another movie which blends horror, sex, and weirdness...seemed to be more laid back in it's attempt to disturb the viewer, yet at the same time, present something that was bizarre and out of the ordinary. "Bad Biology" on the other hand kind of pushes it's luck, rather than easing into it's overall purpose and function.

It goes hardcore right from the jump, and tries extremely hard to establish itself as a "strange trip." As a viewer, I would've gotten that message by just watching the story unfold. But it seemed to me that there were many layers that were blended into the story to just beat-a-dead-horse, and put too much emphasis on the films desire to be new, different, and really outside-the-box. The characters themselves are also not very interesting beyond the Jennifer character, who gets quite annoying around the middle of the movie with her constant pity parties, self-loathing, and whiny attitude.

Granted, the character definitely had her problems, but it's more fun to watch a character try and solve their issues instead of crying over spilled milk all the time. And whoever decided this movie needed an urban-street-slang-talking white guy needs to have their head examined. Characters like this are not viable, especially when forced into a movie that is angling to breathe fresh air into the stale indie horror genre, which has been bogged down as of late by too many psychobilly movies and such.

With that being said, "Bad Biology'' does have it's funny moments, one which involves what happens to Jennifer at the start of the film once she's done with her latest..."partner". And also the films finale which just throws the rule book out the window and gets extremely "crazy" with it. You would think Henelotter is a big fan of the early films of the Wayans brothers ''Scary Movie" series, because this movie has shades of those films, and that particular sort of comedy and humor. Especially at the conclusion.

Seriously, the ending has things that I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes. And for once, the film doesn't feel like it's trying to force outrageous, gross, or bizarre humor upon the viewer. And instead, makes the comedic and weird aspects of it's story flow freely and move in a more fluid motion. It's too bad the films third act was so superior to the first and second acts which were for the most part, boring, awkward, and too hung up on trying to overtly impress the viewer with a whole new approach to horror/comedy.

Keep in mind, this isn't a blood and gore styled horror film, despite the DVD art. It's a horror film that blends horrific imagery and situations, with some strong sci-fi elements, and a large bit of social commentary on the female character side of things. Hence why I compare it to a film like "Teeth", which did horror in a non-graphic way other than one or two scenes.

"Bad Biology" ends on a good note, and while that doesn't make up for a disasterous first and second act, which don't flesh out the characters very well, or give us many likeable ones...it still elevates the film to a modest level, thus making it a not so bad 90 minute trip. "Bad Biology" takes an interesting approach to horror comedy, but just gets too over-zealous at times. It needed to relax a bit and not try so hard. If that had been the case, I would've liked it better.

Positives:A unique story with an intriguing approach to satire and social commentary between the sexes. The third act offers some twisted and hilariously bizarre moments.

Negatives:The first two acts aren't extremely bad, but they don't play well because the characters aren't interesting enough to make them worthwhile.

Overall:Two stars out of four.





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