Bad Biology Review

RATING: B-

As far as bizarre sexuality and the movies go, there have certainly been some real memorable ones over the years-from Cronenberg’s sexually strange car crash arousal flick Crash, to the 2007 vagina dentata horror flick Teeth. I’m not talking about pornography here, but actual narrative movies that push the boundaries of deviance and sexuality in ways that only film can get away with. Now comes Frank Henenlotter’s Bad Biology, the strangest of all the bizarre sex films that I have ever seen.

The film follows two young people who believe themselves to be on the cusp of evolutionary advancement. One, a young man with a male member that quite literally has a mind of its own, and the other, a young woman with a self-described vagina with a hyper metabolism. The opening line of the film surely sets the tone of what’s to come, a warning to the weary audience member who may not know what they are in for; “I was born with seven clits.” Yes, the film takes all sorts of odd turns, ultimately leading the two to find each other and unite in what they regard as their divine fate.

Henenlotter loves the bizarre, and Bad biology has loads of the directors horror-comedy charms. It’s a fun ride full of over-the-top romps and its fair share of inventive prosthetic effects, another Henenlotter trademark. There are moments however in which the film goes too far. A sub-plot of sorts involving the woman with seven clitorises shows her giving birth to deformed babies after every sexual encounter, a result of her “hyper metabolism.” I thought that these scenes were unnecessary and uncomfortable in a way that detracted from the films other, more comedic discomforts. The acting is amateur, but in this indie world in which Henenlotter strives, Bad Biology is a wildly original film that is hard to forget.