CRUD Challenge: Adrenalin: Fear the Rush
Jan. 10th, 2026 12:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skjamAdrenalin: Fear the Rush (1996) dir. Albert Pyun
In the very near future, a biochemical weapon is accidentally released in Eastern Europe. The resulting viral plague makes its way across the continent and over the ocean to America. All Eastern Europeans are suspect, and they are rounded up and confined to Boston in what was supposed to be a temporary quarantine. By 2007, it's become clear that it's a permanent situation. There are only two ways to get passports out of Boston. The first is to work for the government and stay healthy long enough to earn one. This is the route chosen by Officer Delon (Natasha Henstridge). But it won't get her small son a passport, so she's purchased one on the black market.
However, first she has to survive on the job. It appears that somehow (never adequately explained), a person has been infected with an even worse virus and turned into a deranged killer. The suspect (Darrell Davis) has already killed a civilian, some random street gang members, and a couple of cops. Delon is assigned to a squad to go out and arrest the killer. The other most important member of the team is Officer Lemieux (Christopher Lambert).
They track down the suspect to a former prison, but the killer is cunning and the police officers are quickly whittled down in numbers. Meanwhile, military?/federal? agents are trying to also locate the suspect before he becomes contagious.
This is not a good movie. It's not clear how much of the blame is on the original writer, Albert Pyun, and how much is on the botched editing required by the American studio executives. The latter required that the film's Romanian setting become Boston (with the result that the city looks nothing like Boston and everything like Bratislava) with the virus plotline being extended to not just the killer, but also used to explain why everyone is trapped in the city.
Our two main stars do the best they can with the lines and actions they're given, but what they're given isn't great material. There's a dearth of exposition and character development, and the plot is often nonsensical.
Apparently, the killer is the subject of biological warfare experimentation who somehow escaped. Possibly he's got military combat training, as he's far more adept with guns and knives than the cops are, in addition to his ability to rip a man's head off with his bare hands. He's also able to survive multiple gunshot wounds. The killer doesn't talk, but clearly retains a fair amount of intelligence and planning skills. It's not clear if the virus is giving him superhuman prowess, or if he's surviving the virus because he was already so tough. And of course, the feds knowing exact timing on when he's going to become contagious is suspicious.
The cinematography leans heavily on shaky-cam and poor lighting that makes it hard to tell what's going on in action sequences.
Content note: Multiple murders. Gunshot and other wounds, often gory. Rough language. Ethnic prejudice is mentioned. A man attempts public urination.
I only watched the 76-minute American cut; apparently there's a slightly longer European cut with a bit more dialogue. If Mr. Pyun's commentary is to be taken at face value, the movie as he envisioned it could have been mediocre instead of actively bad. Recommended to completists of the director or cast members, or bad action movie fans.
In the very near future, a biochemical weapon is accidentally released in Eastern Europe. The resulting viral plague makes its way across the continent and over the ocean to America. All Eastern Europeans are suspect, and they are rounded up and confined to Boston in what was supposed to be a temporary quarantine. By 2007, it's become clear that it's a permanent situation. There are only two ways to get passports out of Boston. The first is to work for the government and stay healthy long enough to earn one. This is the route chosen by Officer Delon (Natasha Henstridge). But it won't get her small son a passport, so she's purchased one on the black market.
However, first she has to survive on the job. It appears that somehow (never adequately explained), a person has been infected with an even worse virus and turned into a deranged killer. The suspect (Darrell Davis) has already killed a civilian, some random street gang members, and a couple of cops. Delon is assigned to a squad to go out and arrest the killer. The other most important member of the team is Officer Lemieux (Christopher Lambert).
They track down the suspect to a former prison, but the killer is cunning and the police officers are quickly whittled down in numbers. Meanwhile, military?/federal? agents are trying to also locate the suspect before he becomes contagious.
This is not a good movie. It's not clear how much of the blame is on the original writer, Albert Pyun, and how much is on the botched editing required by the American studio executives. The latter required that the film's Romanian setting become Boston (with the result that the city looks nothing like Boston and everything like Bratislava) with the virus plotline being extended to not just the killer, but also used to explain why everyone is trapped in the city.
Our two main stars do the best they can with the lines and actions they're given, but what they're given isn't great material. There's a dearth of exposition and character development, and the plot is often nonsensical.
Apparently, the killer is the subject of biological warfare experimentation who somehow escaped. Possibly he's got military combat training, as he's far more adept with guns and knives than the cops are, in addition to his ability to rip a man's head off with his bare hands. He's also able to survive multiple gunshot wounds. The killer doesn't talk, but clearly retains a fair amount of intelligence and planning skills. It's not clear if the virus is giving him superhuman prowess, or if he's surviving the virus because he was already so tough. And of course, the feds knowing exact timing on when he's going to become contagious is suspicious.
The cinematography leans heavily on shaky-cam and poor lighting that makes it hard to tell what's going on in action sequences.
Content note: Multiple murders. Gunshot and other wounds, often gory. Rough language. Ethnic prejudice is mentioned. A man attempts public urination.
I only watched the 76-minute American cut; apparently there's a slightly longer European cut with a bit more dialogue. If Mr. Pyun's commentary is to be taken at face value, the movie as he envisioned it could have been mediocre instead of actively bad. Recommended to completists of the director or cast members, or bad action movie fans.
