Director – Fred Olen Ray (Bikini Frankenstein, Twilight Vamps)
Starring – Aldo Ray (Shock ‘Em Dead, Blood Red), Angelique Pettyjohn (Repo Man, Star Trek: The Original Series), and William Fair (Matlock, Deep Space)
Release Date – 1985
Rating – 2.5/5
Blu Release – 3/5
I’m still working my way through some of the films of Fred Olen Ray that I had ordered from Makeflix. Some were cheap but extremely fun while a few were cheap and mediocre at best. I never realized how many of Ray’s films that I liked until I started this marathon and he may be one of the consistent filmmakers I’ve witnessed. They don’t stick with you like other filmmakers but they are always fun. After watching Evil Spawn I decided to follow it up with 1985’s Biohazard. This is another one that I recently purchased from Makeflix and it was the perfect time to give it a spin.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a science experiment involving a psychic. The experiment works and she is able to pull a box of some sort through a machine she is hooked to. The military takes it to run experiments on but something is inside it. It breaks it’s way out and goes on a bloody rampage while the military and the psychic search for it before more people die. **Spoiler Alert**
As I make my way through these Retromedia releases I found myself really looking forward to Evil Spawn and Biohazard. Biohazard is one I had never seen before but I fucking love all the posters I’ve seen for it. It really made my mind race and sparked my imagination. Another horror sci-fi mash up from Ray really had me excited. Sadly, this one drags it’s feet a lot more than the other films I’ve reviewed up to this point and the story just doesn’t feel complete.
The acting in this one is pretty consistent with the other films directed by Ray. The male characters are all generic and the cast does very little at setting their characters apart from others. Hell, there was a few times where I was confused because I got the characters mixed up. The female characters are very few in this one but we do get a smoking performance from the late bombshell Angelique Pettyjohn. I was unfamiliar with her prior to this viewing and I’m said to read that she passed away at 42 from cancer. I fucking loved her performance here.
The story for this one is solid on paper but when it was adapted for the screen it was done in a way that it’s just too goofy to enjoy. I love a cheesy horror flick and I really enjoy the way Ray approaches his films but this one is just all over the place. The way the film was edited it makes the story very chaotic and a few key points in the story has the viewer assuming instead of showing them. Honestly, it doesn’t feel like a completed film.
Finally, the film has some bloody moments with some fun make-up effects. The kills aren’t that memorable but they are fun. With that being said, I loved the look of the alien creature and the body suit. It looked great and one of the highlights of the film. Overall, Biohazard is not as fun as the other films in my marathon. It’s very inconsistent, generic at times, and the story is very sloppy. If you want to check it out yourself you can snag a copy at makeflix.com.
Special Features:
Widescreen 1.85:1 from the Original 35mm Negative
New Commentary Track with Fred Olen Ray moderated by filmmaker David DeCoteau
“Remembering BIOHAZARD 32 Years Later” Video Documentary featuring Fred Olen Ray, Chris Olen Ray, Frank McDonald, Richard Hench, and David DeCoteau
Scenes from the unfinished 35mm feature BEYOND FEAR, starring Aldo Ray and Richard Harrison
