HALLOWEEN HORRORFEST 2020: Bad Biology (2008)

Our sponsor today is Jeremy Crowther, my latest Patreon.  As I mentioned yesterday, Patreons Get A Free Sponsorship Slot, so if you’d like to see me look at a horror film of your choice, please sign up!  There are five tiers from $1 to $10, and I will get back to doing everything soon!

Jeremy is representing the New York Times Neediest Case Fund, which provides help to people in economic hardship.

Jeremy chose for me the last horror film directed (so far) by underground horror icon Frank Hennelotter...namely, Bad Biology.  Just a brief head’s up--there’s some stuff I’m about to discuss here that might Not Be Safe For Work.

Hennelotter is a very unique filmmaker (as well as an amazing film historian--Frank, if you’re reading this, Chris Honeywell and I would love to have you on The Honeywell Experiment to discuss a Nudie Cutie or Roughie of your choice!) who is not afraid to mix his horror with humor and a touch of grossness.  And this film is funny and gross and horrifying and weird...and something of a love story.

Jennifer (Charlee Danielson) was born with seven clitori and an accelerated reproduction system, which means she is in a constant state of sexual arousal and, when she has sex, gives birth to mutant babies after two hours.  She is convinced she was made this way by God, who created her so he can have sex with her.  She works as a photographer of ‘controversial material’...like the photoshoot she’s doing with a rap duo that involves the artists molesting Tina Krause (playing herself) wearing a vagina mask over her face.

The home she’s doing this photoshoot in belongs to Batz (Anthony Sneed), who suffered an unfortunate injury at birth when his penis was mistaken for the umbilical cord, resulting in some disfunction he’s been treating by injecting steroids and human growth so it can function properly.  Instead of being restored to normal, his member is now a sentient, diseased looking thing that Batz is going to extremes to try and control.  When Jennifer witnesses Batz getting an erection after he’s been teased by Tina, she becomes convinced he is her soul mate and begins stalking him.

There’s something that feels different from previous Hennelotter films.  For one thing, it looks slicker even though it’s still obviously low budget.  For another, Hennelotter structures this differently, focusing mostly on Jennifer in Act One, Batz in Act Two and having them come together (pun maaaaybe intended) in Act Three.  Both of our protoganists have moments where they’re addressing the audience, and I don’t just mean Jennifer’s voiceover; when, after tossing one of her babies in a garbage can, she confronts us and justifies her action by claiming it isn’t really a child, and even if it is, it’s her and she knows what she’s doing.  Batz’ monologue, done as he’s feeding his penis monster into a Rube Goldbergesque masturbation machine, sounds like a theatrical monologue and that might be what I’m getting at--this has the feeling of a really, really sleazy stage play.  For what it’s worth, it works.

I know there are some critics who have turned up their nose at Danielson’s acting, but I had no problem with it, and Sneed is just fitting into the Hennelotter Protagonist Type previously occupied by Kevin Van Hentenryck, Rick Hearst and James Lorenz before this, so there’s not much demand on him.  I will concede that some of the other performances are truly painful to watch--one scene of Batz overhearing a conversation about penis size and John Holmes is almost unendurable, and the scene of Jennifer meeting with her editor (writer/director/producer James Glickenhaus, who as an actor makes an adequate writer/director/producer*) is wooden and tedious.  But what makes up for all this questionable acting is the integration of Hennelotter’s rude humor with the story he’s telling.  I’m sure some people will scratch their head at things like the penis monster running rampant and giving everlasting orgasms to a procession of naked or near-naked women (credited as ‘Woman in Penthouse’, ‘Woman on Couch,’ ect) but I kept giggling at the absurdity of it, and I think Hennelotter would approve of that reaction.

Gabe Bartalos provides the practical special effects, including a surreal look....ahem, inside Jennifer and a grotesque penis monster that breaks away from Batz and stalks the floorboards of Brooklyn thanks to some stop motion animation.  I will always have time for stop motion animation.

The weirdest thing about this film is how, even though we see both of our protagonists do horrible and questionable thing (Hell, one of the first things we see Jennifer do is kill the man she takes home for sex), we never lose our sympathy for them.  We know where this film is going to end up, and we always have a sneaking suspicion this is not going to be all flowers and puppies for Jennifer and Batz, but we do want them to succeed in resolving the problems that arise from their own individual mutations.

Bad Biology is a low-key but compelling little story about people with somewhat unique conditions.  I do recommend it, although I warn you...it can be kinda hard to take, but I think the gross parts are integral to what Hennelotter is trying to say.

Tomorrow our sponsor is my Canadian podcast brother, the man behind the long-running Dread Media podcast, Des Reddick!  Des, probably knowing my love of Korean cinema and television, has chosen Jee-Won Kim’s I Saw The Devil!

There are other ways you can end up sponsoring a day during this Halloween Horrorfest besides becoming a Domicile of Dread Patreon!

1) You can buy me a coffee at Ko-Fi.  Suggested donation is $3

2) You can make a donation to Black Lives Matter.  Suggested donation is $10.  Please forward your receipt to me as proof.

3) You can choose to make a donation to the charity chosen by a sponsor on his/her/their day. Like with the third possibility, please forward me proof of donation.

As with last year, if I end up with more sponsors than there are days in October, I will go into Horrorfest Overtime, which means Halloween goes into November for me--and you!

*--Don’t look at me like that.  I’ve seen both The Exterminator and The Protector.