Primal Rage (1988) User Reviews

This film has one of the best Halloween party n costumes.

[Fella_shibby · 6/10 · 18 March 2021]

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs. Revisited it recently.

The film is a bit slow in the beginning n picks up only aft an hour.

So the last half an hour is all the action.

The best part is the Halloween costumes.

The film has one of the nastiest scalp removal scene.

The guy in Dracula costume n the guy in three headed tap costume and their deaths are comedic.

Can someone tell me the name of the babe at 5th min in the black n white sleeveless top.

Italy in America

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 8 January 2022]

Vittorio Rambaldi wrote the script and did the special effects on Nightmare Beach and if you recognize his last name, then you already realize that he's the son of Italian effects legend Carlo Rambaldi. This was the first movie he directed and he got Umberto Lenzi to write it, which is a great plan, along with James Justice, who used the name Harry Kirkpatrick to write and direct Nightmare Beach but I kind of think he's also Lenzi, because he also used that name along with Humphrey Humbert, Bob Collins, Hank Milestone, Humphrey Milestone and Humphrey Logan.

A scientist at a Florida university create a rage virus while performing experiments intended to restore dead brain tissue. And then when two college journalists breaks into the campus lab, one gets bitten by an infected babboon and spreads the virus to a gang of rapists dressed like the Cobra Kai on Halloween and a co-ed abortion lover named Debbie (Sarah Bruxton from Nightmare Beach)who all start killing other people on a smaller level as the virus in Lenzi's Nightmare City.

Man, this movie has it all. There's Bo Svenson as a scientist! Some of the grossest effects you'll see in a movie as people drip pus everywhere! A Halloween party with Darth Vader! An Alf doll! Bartles and James wine coolers! An Avoid the Noid poster! Man, this is the most 1988 movie there's ever been and I just can't get enough of Italian filmmakers needing to prove it to you that their movie comes from America so badly that it seems like it had to come from another planet.

The music in this really takes it to another level. And yes, the song "Say the Word" also shows up in...you guessed it, Nightmare Beach. Man, they should have just called this one Nightmare Fraternity.

An animal of a good time.

[lost-in-limbo · 5/10 · 5 September 2009]

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.

"Don't Jerk Me Around, Ethridge! He Caught Something From Your Monkey!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 22 November 2023]

In PRIMAL RAGE, the world's tallest scientist, Dr. Ethridge (Bo Svenson), is hard at work on his new brain-restoring serum. All is well until the campus imbecile decides to sneak into the lab to snoop around. A certain test baboon doesn't take kindly to this, and the terror begins.

Soon enough, the infection of the title is spreading, and no one is safe.

Utterly preposterous from beginning to end, and featuring a delightfully painful, generic 1980s musical soundtrack, this movie is highly entertaining. The gore level is medium, but Mr. Svenson sports one of those heinous, 1-inch ponytails that were so fashionable at the time. There's also a trio of jocks that steal the show with their hyper-testosterone antics! Their arrival at the Halloween bash is one for the history books!

Favorite quote: "Excuse me, did you see a beast-girl go by here?". Pure gold!...

So bad, it's a laugh riot

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 17 October 2016]

This is a really really bad Italian B-movie which will prove itself to be a treat for bad movie lovers. It's definitely one of the worst Italian movies I've seen, but also one of the most unintentionally funny. Credibility goes out of the window right from the start, when we are introduced to a wooden cast of actors playing teenagers and 20-somethings who couldn't act their way out of a paper bag if their lives depended on it. The usual bunch of B-movie types are present and correct, from the dashing journalist hero, to his love interest, to his kooky friend, and the local gang of rapist thugs. Bet you can't guess who'll survive to the end credits, can you?

Lurking around in his cheap lab (a room made up) is creepy scientist Bo Svenson, who must have been REALLY down on his luck when this was made. Svenson - who sports a really, really bad short ponytail - has been conducting experiments on a monkey (created by Carlo Rombaldi and, briefly, the only real "special" effect in the film) which inevitably escapes to go on a rampage. No matter that the "killer monkey" films had already run their course by this time (after both Romero's MONKEY SHINES and LINK), as the monkey is immediately splattered against a passing car. However, it has bitten one of the journalist's friends, thus begins the real plot of the film.

The bite turns the victim into a subhuman animal unable to suppress his/her primal instincts (as the title might suggest). What this means is that a bad actor/actress goes around with some very cheap but nonetheless gruesome "vein" make up plastered all over their faces. If they last for more than a couple of hours, they also go through the old "oatmeal face" routine. Of course, this wouldn't be a horror film without pulsating wounds either, so we have those in abundance (and slime - it really does go without saying).

The basic course of the film has the bitten victim committing a string of gore murders while the journalist and his girlfriend investigate and try to stop him. Four more people get bitten, and the disease is transferred to them for maximum carnage. It's all very predictable - and moderately entertaining - until the over-the-top finale, set at a Halloween party, where a number of unsuspecting dancers find themselves on the receiving end of some brute force and evil urges. That the good guys win out in the end (accompanied by some cheesy pop music playing in the background) is a foregone conclusion.

Another of the Rombaldi family, Vittorio, directs in a very uninspiring manner, showing little talent for getting the best out of his performers or creating excitement or suspense. Alex Rombaldi also provided the no-budget make ups, so it really was a family get-together for the Rombaldis with this one! The script is very unoriginal and treads through the same old clichés; it's no surprise that Umberto Lenzi decided to use a pseudonym for this particular piece of work.

The murders are done pretty sloppily, and usually cut away from the gore and violence. People are strangled bloodlessly and one guy has the skin ripped off his hand (a trick done simply by pulling a pink glove off a skeleton hand). Lots of death occurs at the finale, when the three infected gang members go on a rampage dressed as the Grim Reaper, complete with flashing red eyes; ironically the Halloween costumes that they wear are the scariest things in the whole movie! There's lots of fun to be had here, as they attack and kill one would-be Dracula, and are in turn spiked, crushed and axed to death. The best death occurs when one character is crushed to death in a scene which resembles the ending of THE TERMINATOR, which conveys maximum pain and brutality without having to resort to any special effects whatsoever (all we see is his mask being crushed)!

Of course, there's also a cheesy twist ending in which infected scientist Svenson comes back for one last attack - and is thrown off a balcony. A dummy is used just as badly as the one in ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST, although sadly the arm doesn't come off this one for entertainment value; however, the hilarious effect has much the same impact. PRIMAL RAGE is without a doubt a really shoddily-made film, but offers hours of endless amusement for easily-pleased bad movie lovers who will have a riot with the poor effects, wooden acting and cheesiness of the film.

28 Weeks Earlier...

[thesar-2 · 7/10 · 22 April 2023]

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.

In No Way Related to the Video Game I Played Religiously as a Teen

[lovecraft231 · 6/10 · 14 December 2010]

Remember "28 Days Later"? You know, that movie in which a viral outbreak is caused by a diseased primate and dumb environmentalists? Well, it seems like Italy got there first with the 1988 movie "Primal Rage."

Dr. Ethridge (Bo Svenson) has been working on a new experiment on baboons that's supposed to heal damaged brain tissue. There's a bit of a problem though-said baboons carry a deadly virus that can cause people to be the victim of uncontrollable, murderous rage. Well, idiot/self proclaimed "gonzo journalist" Duffy (Mitch Wilson aka unknown actor with a generic name # 2061) decides to investigate, only to get infected. And he's spreading said infection. Can dull hero Sam Ashe (Patrick Lowe) protect his new love interest Lauren (Cheryl Arutt)? Will all hell break loose? Will bad 80's fashion and hair prevail?

An Italian/North American co-production directed by Vittorio Rambaldi and written by exploitation jack of all trades Umberto Lenzi, "Primal Rage" (which has nothing to do with the video game I played religiously back in the day) is a cheap little movie made in the ass end days of Italian exploitation. At this point, only guys like Dario Argento and Michel Soavi were doing anything worthwhile. Lucio Fulci's best days were behind him, Lamberto Bava never managed to do a good follow up to his "Demons" films, Lenzi had been regulated to bad straight to video and television fair-the list goes on. So while "Primal Rage" is a bad movie (complete with bad acting, questionable direction and logic, and horrible pop songs that make it feel like one of those old TGIF sitcoms) that hasn't aged well at all, it's at least an entertaining bad movie.

The movie manages to be one of the more graphic Italian horror movies from this part of the decade, which manages to help quite a bit. The viewer gets to see a scalping, torn out throats, crushed heads, gouged out eyes and more, especially in the last 20 something minutes at a Halloween party. It's also never boring, and moves at a reasonable clip for a 91 minute movie thanks to the fact that those behind it know what it is-dumb exploitation-and for the most part delivers what the viewer wants out of it. Also, Claudio Simmnetti's score is a lot of fun, and at times reminded me of his work for Bava's "Demons", and the the climax itself offers most of what one expects from a movie like this.

It may not be a great (or good) movie, but "Primal Rage" is a nice hunk of Italian Cheese made for a Saturday night with friends and some beer.

It's not great but it will do for a nights entertainment.

[slasherfan · 7/10 · 7 October 2000]

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.

This movie deserves cult status

[Wturnerbill · 10/10 · 29 June 2002]

At first, I thought this was going to be another killer ape picture, instead it was an very cool knock-off of David Cronenberg's "Rabid", with awesome effects by Carlo Rambaldi. I thoroughly enjoyed watching these characters go berzerk to the music of Claudio Simonetti. The gore was plentiful and the ruckus at the Halloween dance was very exciting. It was also fun to watch one of Rob Lowe's brothers in yet another B horror picture. My only problem was the dated pop tunes that plagued the movie's soundtrack.

Almost a gem. How have I never heard of this before?

[d_m_s · 7/10 · 3 January 2015]

The low number of ratings and reviews for this film is evidence that it is a little-seen flick and after having just watched it I am surprised that it is so well hidden and also that I have never come across it before (I am always on the lookout for 80's hidden gems).

OK, this isn't quite a hidden gem but it's a lot better than I expected, a lot better than its rating suggests and also a lot better than more famous yet higher rated horror films.

What stops this being a gem is the mid-point lull, some poor acting from the supporting cast and some daft bits in the storyline.

It's a bit frustrating because with some tweaking this could have been one of the great 80's horror films along with the likes of The Lost Boys and American Werewolf in London. There is a great soundtrack by Goblin's Claudio Simonetti, a fun pop-rock song in the intro, excellent special effects, some great death scenes, a highly enjoyable Halloween party sequence near the end and a decent storyline (that had huge potential to be a lot more fun and engaging had it perhaps been re-written a few more times before filming).

In a way I'm glad there a still some decent old horror films out there that are worth discovering but it's just a shame that this one could have been so much better. Still, it was a decent watch and would have been more enjoyable watch with some mates and a few beers.

Enjoyable for fans of B flicks

[Analog_Devotee · 6/10 · 7 September 2020]

This low-budget flick was released the same year as Halloween IV, Child's Play, They Live and The Blob--so it's no wonder it flew under the radar of most horror fans at the time.

Cheesy doesn't even begin to describe the acting and writing in this one. You know the stickiness you feel under your shoes when you're in a movie theater in a bad part of town? Find a word for that and it'll probably describe it.

Still, there are some redeeming qualities--mostly the gore and the fact that it doesn't slow down and linger. There's always something going on, and the gore is actually decent for a flick that probably had a budget lower than the average ten-year-old's weekly allowance.

I'll probably never watch it again, but hey, I've seen worse!

Say the word? Eighties! Say the word? Rabid Monkey-Virus! Say the word? Cheese!

[Coventry · 7/10 · 18 February 2018]

Leave it to the Italians to come up with one of the most engrossing, cheesiest and outrageously entertaining splatter flicks of the 80s! Umberto Lenzi, here under his favorite pseudonym Harry Kirkpatrick, wrote the fantastically bonkers script but offered the director's chair to his lesser known buddy Vittorio Rambaldi. "Primal Rage" is as eighties as it gets: the über-cheesy and misfit pop song "Say the Word" doesn't just feature once or twice but three times integrally, there are loads of beautiful girls with humongous hairdos and sexy aerobic outfits and even the obsessive evil scientist sports a ridiculous little mullet-ponytail! There were quite many horror movies with monkeys during the late 80s, but unlike you'd suspect from Lenzi, "Primal Rage" isn't a clone of "Monkey Shines", "Link" or "Shadow of Kilimanjaro". Dr. Ethridge is working at a Florida University campus and uses a baboon as guinea pig for his research involving brain diseases, but he accidentally saddled the poor animal up with a virus that invokes rage and rabies. When the rebellious campus reporter Frank Duffy breaks into Ethridge's laboratory, he releases the baboon but gets bitten and thus contaminated with the virus. Duffy passes forward the virus to a cute girl he met during a blind date and she, at her turn, contaminates a trio of vicious rapists. Each virus carrier goes on his/her own killing spree during the night of the annual campus Halloween party. "Primal Rage" is clichéd, derivative and predictable, but oh-so-entertaining! The film is fast-paced and features terrific make-up art as well as countless of gory highlights, including beheadings and impalements. Hunky 80s kid Patrick Lowe is rather annoying, but the rest of the cast is decent, with young and yummy actresses Cheryl Arutt, Sarah Buxton and Jennifer Hingel. Naturally, of course, it's Bo Svenson who steals the show as the fanatic scientist (with ponytail). Special kudos for the creative minds who thought up and designed all the dozens of great costumes that people are wearing during the Halloween party! I honestly never saw any cooler or creepier horror costumes in my life.

Rabid Neanderthals on the loose at a Florida campus

[Wuchakk · 6/10 · 6 April 2023]

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-

Awesome 80's flick!

[willandcharlenebrown · 9/10 · 8 June 2023]

The best part of this movie is the way the director wants you to always remember what the 80's were like. He took special care to film every moment of people walking, dancing, clothes, sexism, hairdos, all wrapped around a cool little story of monkey brain protein cell regeneration gone wrong. Great special affects too. So much to like about the movie! And they did it without T&A

The best part of this movie is the way the director wants you to always remember what the 80's were like. He took special care to film every moment of people walking, dancing, clothes, sexism, hairdos, all wrapped around a cool little story of monkey brain protein cell regeneration gone wrong. Great special affects too. So much to like about the movie.

"Say the word! Rescue me!!!"

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 6/10 · 12 March 2022]

So in a plot that almost immediately makes you think of 28 Days Later, a possibly mad scientist inadvertently creates a deadly rabies-like virus while experimenting on the brain of a baboon to try and reanimate dead brain cells or whatever, that gradually transforms its victims into mostly mindless bloodthirsty savages, and when a shaggy-haired young student journalist breaks into the lab looking for a scoop gets bitten by the maddened creature, a slaughter looms unless the infected can be stopped! This frankly wasn't that much of a movie, and I'd never ever heard of it, but I was entertained and engaged enough while watching it, I liked how everything was eighties to the max and everyone had the hair shaped like a helmet and was rocking the colourful and very tight sweatpants! It's probably one of the most eighties horror movies ever made, I found that side of it quite cute! I thought it had a really weird atmosphere, it looked very American, but it felt distinctly like an Italian horror movie, there are certain unmistakable similarities to Argento's Demons movies, like how the fully infected act and when the soundtrack would spontaneously turn into fast metal during the action scenes! Some of the acting was downright bizarre, the trio of crazy bro-bullies who were pretty shameless about their nasty intentions towards the opposite sex are so dumb and over the top they're like live-action cartoons until they get infected and actually become a little scary as they descend on the big Halloween hi-school party like three jacked-up murderous Sketetors! Patrick Lowe was about as wooden and boring as his more famous brother, and he didn't do too much of anything except flee from the savage infected and try to look as cute as possible as he popped up in his silly little red motorbike. The most effective actors in the movie for me were Sara Burton and Mitch Williams as they slowly lost their minds to the rage and struggle not to kill their friends, except for the ridiculous ape sounds that he made! Whether it was because of budget reasons or not, I thought it played it a little safe in terms of the horror, I mean only a handful of people get infected and are killed during the big Halloween bash which I thought was the best part of the movie because I loved the costumes and how some of the movie played into a few of the victims' deaths in a darkly comedic way, it still needed a lot more blood though, which is too bad because when there was gore it was quite brutal and effective! So for me Primal Rage the movie not the video game, is definitely not a good movie but it's a fun entertaining little romp that's very enjoyable in an unintentionally bad kind of way, not nearly amongst the horror greats of the 80s but I liked it for the idea, the goofy 80s fun factor, the infected raving savages are genuinely scary and it's a pretty fun watch. Worth seeing if you never have for a harmless bit of old school bloody horror fun! X.

Not bad.

[bombersflyup · 6/10 · 10 August 2020]

Primal Rage isn't bad, a few changes and voila.

It's a shame the better characters, Duffy and Debbie are shutout fairly early. Buxton's quite nice. Some awful stuff with Lowe and the goon trio, but the Halloween party's a nice touch to bring it home. Svenson's ponytail has to be one of the worst ever, ha.

Routine Italian horror (made in USA)

[lor_ · 12 June 2023]

My review was written in January 1991 after watching the movie on Warner video cassette.

The family of "E. T." creator Carlo Rambaldi traveled to Florida to make "Primal Rage", an unexceptional horror film about college experiments on monkeys gone awry. Direct-to-video release is acceptable fodder for hardcore genre fans.

Like another recent Florida-made shocker, "Shakma", a baboon runs wild in a science lab, run by unscrupulous prof Bo Svenson. Student Patrick Lowe is working on an expose of these experiments fot the college paper.\

Before the escaped baboon is killed by the cops, it bites a student and spreads a rare disease. The student in turn gives heroine Sarah Buxton a hickey and she becomes infected. When Buxton is attacked by three campus thugs, she fights back and infects them.

All this is an excuse for Rambaldi and son Alex to present some imaginative gore and monster makeup effects. Another member of the clan, Vittorio Rambaldi, directs competently and with complete mastery of direct-sound English dialog (a must for these hybrid productions).

The mix of horror and teenage sex tease in Harry Kirkpatrick's screenplay, doesn't work. Performances by a generally unknown cast are unimpressive.

A neo-zombie like movie

[GOWBTW-5STARreviewer · 8/10 · 18 December 2023]

Close to "Monkey Shines", but this one is right to the point. A scientist is working on a breakthrough of restoration brain cells. He created a virus that can cause rage. A reporter from a Florida university investigating the research stumbled upon a baboon that has been injected with the rage virus, escapes the lab, bites the reporter, and is later killed by a on coming car. The infected reporter goes on a rampage after he bites a valley girl who would later, infected a group of rapists. During a Halloween party, the chaos ensures. And the main reporter and girlfriend stops the madness.

A subtle horror movie. A cross-between "The Living Dead" and "Monkey Shines". Still enjoyable to watch.

2 out of 5 stars.

*1/2 out of 4.

[brandonsites1981 · 30 May 2002]

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.