Cannes

Bad Biology

By ROB NELSON

An R.A. "The Rugged Man" Thorburn production. (International sales: Cine Sales, Inc., Wailuku, in association with Horizon Motion Pictures, Vancouver.) Produced by Thorburn. Executive producers, Gabe Bartalos, Shane L. Kessler, Thorburn. Directed by Frank Henenlotter. Screenplay, Henenlotter, R.A. "The Rugged Man" Thorburn.
 
With: Charlee Danielson, Anthony Sneed, "Rude" Jude Angelini, Eleonore Hendricks, Vinnie Paz, Jelena Jensen, Krista Ayne, Rachael Robbins, James Glickenhaus.
 

A randy bride of "Frankenhooker," Frank Henenlotter's "Bad Biology" mates a genitally engorged male monster with a blonde babe who has seven sexual organs and a singular case of "permanent sexual arousal." In other words, she's gotta have it, and the cult helmer's aud will feel similarly toward his first pic in the 16 years since he capped the "Basket Case" trilogy. A well-earned NC-17 would hardly hurt commercial prospects given Henenlotter's fans, for whom crudely transgressive schlock is precisely the point. Midnight fest play will spawn horror-porn mag and blog raves -- followed, after short refractory period, by uncut DVD.

Played as stiltedly by Charlee Danielson as Henenlotter's so-bad-it's-rad oeuvre demands, the post-post-feminist heroine proudly forgoes prophylactics, the better to deliver her "freak babies" within hours of conception. Sharp 35mm lensing includes a peek inside the femme's fave orifice, as well as aptly purplish p.o.v. shots from the hero's third eye. Spotty humor somehow serves the prevailing mood of gentle repugnance, while the pic's almost poignant preference of '80s-style prosthetics over CGI allows the male protag's prodigious tool to register as a rare work of rubber art.

Camera (Technicolor), Nicholas Deeg; editors, Albert Cadabra, Scooter McCrae; music, Prince Paul, Josh Glazer; production designer, Francois Pinky. Reviewed at Cannes Film Festival (market), May 16, 2008. (In Philadelphia Film Festival.) Running time: 85 MIN.