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Primal Rage

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5.2/10 • 43

1988-12-011h 32m

HorrorScience FictionThriller

There's a new party animal on campus. She'll bring out the beast in you!

A scientist at a Florida university inadvertently creates a "rage virus" while performing experiments intended to restore dead brain tissue in baboons. When a journalist for the college paper breaks into the campus lab, he's bitten by one of the infected baboons; the virus soon spreads to a trio of rapists and a valley girl, all of whom go on killing sprees.

Directors
Vittorio Rambaldi
Writters
Umberto Lenzi, James Justice
Editors
Umberto Lenzi, John Rawson

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Patrick Lowe

    Patrick Lowe

    Sam Nash

  2. Cheryl Arutt

    Cheryl Arutt

    Lauren Daly

  3. Sarah Buxton

    Sarah Buxton

    Debbie

  4. Mitch Watson

    Mitch Watson

    Frank Duffy

  5. Bo Svenson

    Bo Svenson

    Ethridge

  6. Doug Sloan

    Doug Sloan

    Lovejoy

  7. Luis Valderrama

    Luis Valderrama

    Chas

  8. John Baldwin

    John Baldwin

    Bryan

  9. Turk Harley

    Turk Harley

    Prof. Jenkins

Reviews1

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Wuchak Avatar

Wuchak

Apr 6, 2023

6/10

Rabid Neanderthals on the loose at a Florida campus 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-

Media

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  • Primal Rage poster
  • Primal Rage poster
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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
floridaexperimentbiologymouserevengelaboratoryuniversitylethal viruskilling spreebaboonrapistvirusinfectedcollege student