Warning Sign

Dr. Nielsen and his staff celebrate before the biohazard fucks up their day

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I gave this film from 1985 a second shot and I'm glad I did. I "decommissioned" my user comments but will include them here. Three people disagreed with them anyway. Can't say I blame them. I was a bit harsh on the movie. I'll color my rough critique. Sufficed to say I had a lot of fun with this tonight and considered the performances perfectly alright.

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At a supposed agricultural facility devoted to growth hormones and the use of genetic engineering for the future of agriculture, named Biotek Agronomics, a test tube containing a chemical designed for germ warfare accidentally breaks on the floor inside a lab, spreading an infection that causes the body to lose function, soon turning the victims into psychotic lunatics with skin sores. Biotek is shut down by security guard Kathleen Quinlan as Biohazard protocols dictate when an alarm signals the spread of the dangerous chemical, a quarantine organized by the government's Yaphet Kotto. Quinlan's hubby, Sam Waterson (Law & Order), the local sheriff, is trying to figure out a way to get her out of the facility, with help from Jeffrey DeMunn, a former Biotek scientist who was attempting to develop a cure for the germ warfare chemical just in case of a potential disaster like the company now has.

A "message thriller", Warning Sign is designed to forewarn against the development of biochemical weapons for future use by the military, using the Biotek disaster as a device to bang the drum loudly. Despite all his efforts, Kotto cannot maintain the quarantine because Waterson is devoted to his beloved wife. DeMunn is an alcoholic genius, who understands germs and the damage chemical warfare can do to the human body if released on an unprepared people. 

Slow-moving in places, with performances that are so restrained the actors seem to be going through the motions (except when the infection causes scientists like Richard Dysart and Rick Rossovich to go berserk), almost disinterested in the movie their making. I found myself struggling to care about the plot even though the story should be suspenseful considering the subject matter concerns rabid scientists wielding axes and the release of germ warfare on the very ones who created the chemicals to begin with. 

Quinlan, for some reason, doesn't have any signs of infection, and DeMunn must discover why this is the case so an anti-toxin can be administered to future victims.

 I think why the movie just doesn't work is because the pace lags and is never quite as thrilling as it should be. Maybe it is the approach/presentation. 

The  film even has a mob of locals who decide to gather up weapons and take matters into their own hands. G W Bailey, of Police Academy fame, is a scientist who unknowingly spreads the infection (his contacts contain the "Typhoid Mary" that contributed to the release) and tries to help Quinlan find an answer to the germ and Jerry Hardin is an angered father who wants to get his son out of the quarantined building. 

A ho-hum effort from all involved which is a shame considering the powerhouse cast and potential of the premise. Some movies just cannot seem to cash in on a premise that should deliver the goods; it ultimately comes down to execution. There are times when it seems like the screenplay is playfully tongue-in-cheek but the performances fail to pull off the dialogue in a way to bring it to life.
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The film is loaded with talent and has plenty of hair-raising highlights.

Hell of a night

I was trying to recall if I ever saw a copy of this at the mom and pops I haunted in my youth around my hometown. I am really sure Warning Sign (1985) was available. This seems like such a rental store shelf sleeper peeking perhaps from behind Ruthless People. If I found Def-Con 4 (1985) easily available on the shelf of multiple stores, surely a far superior sci-fi thriller like Warning Sign would be, too, right? And yet it wasn’t until I rented a series of 80s releases—Visiting Hours (1982), Bad Dreams (1988)—on Netflix, that I noticed a trailer for Warning Sign. That perked up my curiosity. I found it available on Netflix (back when I was using their DVD service) and got a chance to watch it for the first time in my 30s. I’m still to this day surprised I didn’t even catch this on HBO earlier, like when I could steal some time at my uncle’s or cousin’s house in the late 80s/early 90s. Just the same, from my 2012 review, it didn’t seem I found much value in Warning Sign. But second time was a charm. I dug it this go-around. The cast, already mentioned, has a lot of faces that charge up the enthusiasm. I imagine buffs and aficionados would look down the credits, on the box or poster, and figure this is must-see entertainment.

DeMunn, with his clever, subdued delivery and refusal to ever get too hysterical, quite a scientific, cut-to-the-chase style of character, is the film’s real star. Waterston as the thorn in Kotto’s side makes for a laid-back but forthright sheriff, who accesses the situation and isn’t about to allow his wife to stay in the quarantined facility if she isn’t infected. Much like DeMunn, he’s not prone to hysterics or ever posits anything over-the-top. He’s a solutions kind of guy while Kotto is the government suit sent in to try and quell any revolt, maintain the quarantine, and halt any efforts to remove the infected from the facility. Dysart, unhinged, is hilarious. I thought he was a real gem of a nut as the infection gets in deep and turns him batshit wacko. Bailey, as Quinlan’s mentor, is a revelation because he has real chops despite often portraying a foil for Academy cadets to humiliate. Here he is at first calm, working through the biohazard alert to try and diffuse the situation, gradually growing more worried and eventually losing control as he wants to escape from the quarantine, along with the staff around him who will use an ax and force to require the necessary codes to break out of the facility, threatening to shock Quinlan with two cut wires. Estrogen being the cure-all, when an anti-toxin Nielsen thought was good to go (ultimately not effective), revealing Quinlan to be pregnant is a nice moment for DeMunn as his brain starts racing to develop the antidote. Waterston and Quinlan both sell the news DeMunn informs them very delightfully…it is a welcome bit of good news considering DeMunn’s hasmat suit was ripped by mad, infected scientists, and he grows worse with infection. Kotto unable to keep the restless locals at bay, and completely useless at solving the infection problem that he’s up against has that sweaty, lost disposition and defeated countenance Waterston realizes requires him to take matters into his own hands. The germ warfare government project (just in case the Soviet Union was to hit the US with a type of bio-weapon) behind a “genetic crop engineering” ruse undermined by what the opening series of mishaps unveils (scary in how easy such a development can happen) could perhaps be seen as a precursor to a lot of zombie films that later followed after this film. Boils on the skin, loss of behavioral control, seductive violent urges, and eventual madness all leading to destructive results certainly do call to mind 28 Days Later and Resident Evil.

I caught this on Cinemax premium channel, Thrillermax. So it is making the Cinemax premium channel rounds at the moment. My previous past feelings in the red on this film no longer exist. I seriously thought this had real treasures in it. And the idea is really damned scary.