Bullet Points: Terminal Virus
If there is a Bryan Genesse Fan Club, I believe I should inquire about joining.
I say this after stumbling upon and thoroughly enjoying Bryan’s 1995 film Terminal Virus, a post-apocalyptic actioner from the powerful producer combo of Roger Corman and Cirio H. Santiago…
- Battle of the Sexes: 23 years after “The Mother of All Wars”, the future of humanity looks bleak. Those who survived the nuclear holocaust could not avoid the consequences of a biological weapon that was unleashed during the war, a virus that made sexual relations fatal. This terminal virus now has men and women at war with one another. Both sides take intermingling with the opposite sex seriously. In the opening scene, a topless Cassandra is being chased down and eventually sexually assaulted by a member of the male tribe named Lawson. When the fanatical Calloway (Richard Lynch, Invasion USA) catches Lawson in the act, he has his right hand man, Rieger, put an arrow through Lawson’s back. This allowed Cassandra the chance to escape Lawson and his army. Cassandra was soon picked up by some of her fellow tribeswomen who were out on patrol. Once they get back to the female camp, the Queen of the Amazons puts a bullet in Cassandra’s head, giving Cassandra a quick and painless death compared to what the virus would do to her.
- Snake Wrangling: In a world where sexual relations will kill you, I imagine there was quite a bit of snake wrangling going on. When we first see Joe Knight (Bryan Genesse, Project Shadowchaser II) he is doing some snake wrangling… in the literal sense. It turns out to be some life saving snake wrangling too, because while Joe is out in the field wrangling snakes,the outpost that Joe calls home is about to be attacked by Calloway and his army. The attack is all thanks to Calloway spotting some women there and instinctively unleashing hell from the cool mini-bazooka he wears on his wrist. What the overzealous Calloway misses is the fact that there are also men AND even children at this outpost!? How could that be!?… Joe returns home and sees nothing but carnage and dead bodies, including that of his own mother. Joe’s mortally wounded father calls out to him and with his dying words sets the rest of the movie in motion.
- In the Garden of Eden: Joe’s father had developed a serum that would counteract the terminal virus and allow men and women to procreate again. Up until now, the supply of the serum was extremely limited but right before his death, Joe’s father was able to synthesize the formula. This means there could now be enough serum for the entire world. The 20 year old Joe is living proof that the serum worked. Joe now has to carry on his father’s work and save the world and that means he is going to need an Adam and an Eve to test the new synthetic version of the serum. So Joe hops into his solar powered car and that’s when he comes across McCabe (James Brolin, Savate), about to be executed by Calloway for treason. A well placed grenade allows Joe to swoop in and rescue (and soon recruit) the wise ass McCabe for the cause.
- Sexual Revolutionary War: With Joe’s Adam in place it is time to recruit his Eve. This will be no easy task. With the help of a remote control truck, Joe and McCabe manage to abduct Shara, the amazon guarding the gate to the female camp. After a series of unexpected events, Shara ends up hooking up with Joe! When she wakes up alive the next morning, she returns to her camp and suddenly the future of civilization looks a whole lot brighter than it did the day before… except if you are Calloway with his now outdated view of the world. Instead of embracing the change, Calloway is going to fight it until the bitter end!
Terminal Virus put a unique spin on the post-apocalyptic genre and did so with an exceptional cast… First off, if you’ve cast Richard Lynch as your main villain, you clearly know what the hell you are doing… Then there’s James Brolin. Brolin brings a swagger and charm to the role of McCabe. It was like Brolin was Han Solo to Bryan Genesse’s Luke Skywalker… Bryan Genesse brings a great deal of humility to the character of Joe Knight. This is a guy who is carrying on his father’s work not for personal glory, but to save all of humanity… is there anything more heroic than that?
If you love Bonus Bullet Points, I’m about to become your hero..
- AKA: Terminal Virus is also known as Last Chance. In Italy, it was released as Generazione Zero.
- Stock Footage: The opening minutes of the film, features narration over stock footage from another Roger Corman produced post-apocalyptic film, 1988’s The Sisterhood.
- If You Ever: …wanted a water cooler to be the key to accessing a secret underground laboratory, then Terminal Virus is the movie for you.
