Directed by Vittorio Rambaldi and written by none other than Umberto Lenzi (the man who gave us Cannibal Ferox among countless other Italian horror and crime movie classics), 1988's Primal Rage was an Italian/American co-production made during the end of the Italian horror boom of the seventies and eighties. The film was available on VHS during that format's heyday but has remained unavailable on DVD until now, thanks to the efforts of Code Red.

The film is set at a Florida college campus where unbeknownst to most of the student body a scientist named Ethridge (Bo Svenson, decked out in a white lab coat and sporting the world's most pathetic ponytail) conducts experiments on baboons. What exactly he's up to isn't really made all that clear, but it's got something to do with brain surgery of some sort. Regardless, the baboon in question is injected with something that makes him very grumpy and prone to biting people, which is a lesson learned the hard way by a pair of would be 'gonzo journalists' working for the school paper, Sam (Patrick Lowe) and Duffy (Mitch Watson) when the dastardly baboon chomps down on Duffy's flesh.

As the movie plays out, dopey Duffy starts to show signs of infection. His skins starts to become sickly and his veins show through, and his behavior becomes increasingly primal and enraged in nature. Go figure. Sam, who rides around town on a red motor-scooter, sets the two of them up on a date with two girls - Lauren (Cheryl Arutt) and an unusually pro-abortion chick named Debbie (Sarah Buxton), but romance is not to be for soon he starts to lose his faculties and goes on a rampage across the campus. Of course, Duffy's condition is communicable, and with this being a college campus and girls being readily available, he winds up spreading it. Before you know it, there are all manner of infected students running around causing trouble, much to the dismay of Ethridge and the local police force.

With special effects handled by Vittorio Rambaldi's father, the legendary Italian horror effects king Carlos Rambaldi, Primal Rage, seen here in its uncut form, is pretty strong stuff in the blood and gore department. Not only is there a fair bit of carnage on screen, but the effects work used to turn the various infected cast members into the raging monsters that they become is perfectly goopy and pussy and icky in every way that it needs to be. Say what you will about the acting and the storyline, but as far as the effects are concerned, Primal Rage is pretty impressive. Effects, however, don't make a movie. The story here is as goofy as can be and the performances are hokey and frequently over done. There are moments where the stunt work is terrible (Bo Svenson's final scene in the film being the best example) and moments where it sounds like composer Claudio Simonetti is recycling a fair bit of his previous work.

There's still a good bit of fun to be had with this picture, however. The finale that takes place during a Halloween costume party complete with a guy in a Darth Vadar costume is pretty nifty, with different costumed merrymakers going about and doing their thing while a crew of skeleton clad baddies tear it up just a few feet away. The acting, all of which appears to have been dubbed in post, is terrible more often than not but the characters and their eighties era wardrobe are colorful enough that it doesn't matter so much. On top of that, you can have a lot of fun playing 'spot the eighties pop culture fad' on the walls of the various dorm rooms and bedrooms that are used in the movie. Be on the lookout for the Noid, Robocop, and quite a few other popular icons from the decade in which the picture was made.

NOTE: The following review is based on a test disc that may or may not represent final, finished, retail product.

Code Red presents Primal Rage in a good 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. Generally skin tones look pretty good while color reproduction looks pretty accurate. While the black levels probably could have been a bit darker, this is probably more to do with the source material than the transfer. Detail is quite good for an older low budget feature and only mild print damage is noticeable. Given the age and obscurity of the picture there's really nothing to complain about here, the movie looks a fair bit better than most will probably expect it to.

The Audio:

The audio chores are handled by a fine English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono track. There's the odd pop in the mix but if you're not listening for them you're probably not going to notice them. Dialogue is easy enough to understand and the score and sound effects are all well balanced. The film shows its age in that it has got a fairly limited range but you can't fault it for that.