DVD
Review by C. Demetrius Morgan
Synopsis: Seeking refuge from an ion-storm a group of post-apocalypse survivors stumble upon an abandoned research facility and take refuge within. However after a shower and some food the group discovers the shelter isn't quite as abandoned as it first appeared.
Features
Full Screen presentation
Chapter stops
Full Length Trailer (Actually trailers for: Hybrid, Evil Toons, Dark Universe)
Photo Gallery
Run Time: 86 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Cast: John Blyth Barrymore, Brinke Stevens, Ted Monte, Peter Spellos, J.J. North, Tim Abell.
Director: Fred Olen Ray
MSRP: $9.95
Summary Go to Report Card summary
Sleaze on a budget auteur Fred Olen Ray has delighted B-movie aficionados over the years with such astonishing fractured gems as Biohazard, Biohazard: The Alien Force, Deep Space, Evil Spawn, and the ultra cheek sci-fi classic Star Slammer. In Hybrid Mr. Ray brings us a new- even though we've seen it all before- chapter in cautionary post-apocalyptic slavering mutant monster menacing a small band of self-centered survivors low-rent Alien knock-offs. But wait, it gets better, Hybrid is a virtual scene for scene remake of an eighties cult classic called Creepozoids! Alas you wouldn't know that from the salacious blurbs on the DVD sleeve: top
See: Enraged Alien Mutant
Seeking A Love Mate!
See: Mutilated Bodies Of The Innocent
Victims!
See: Two Hot Looking Babes Take A Shower Together!!!
The DVD
The liner notes are sparse and do little for this gem, which is a shame as this a must have for Alien knock-off completists. Unlike my previous RetroMedia DVDs the physical disc is plain silver with simple black lettering. Sadly that bargain basement look seems to extend to the feature itself, which has to be one of the poorest quality transfers I've ever seen from RetroMedia, and I have War of the Planets and War of the Robots! Worse the "trailer" that is provided was obviously sourced from tape and is actually three trailers back to back. While the intro provided by Fred Olen Ray is at least entertaining and somewhat humorous it doesn't quite make up for the poor quality transfer or the fact the bloopers and outtakes promised on the DVD cover aren't present. Go to Report Card summary
THE MOVIE top
Hybrid is noteworthy because it is a virtual 100% remake of David DeCoteau's eighties B-movie post-apocalypse classic Creepozoids. However Hybrid has better-looking sets, far superior costumes, and even campier dialogue, which may not be saying much. Both movies star scream queens with a supporting cast of virtual unknowns. Both movies are classic Alien knock-offs. Both movies teeter on the cusp between horribly awful exploitation and utterly appalling schlock in a so bad it's funny B-movie sort of way.
Too, there is an mind boggling opening sequence tacked on to the beginning of Hybrid that can be viewed as an homage to Roger Corman or, as the clips just happen to be under the minimum requirements to allow for fair usage, a mad cap opus edited together from the choicer bits and pieces of Corman-esque flicks. It's insane genius. Alas the video quality of the transfer on this Retromedia disc leaves much to be desired. Go to Report Card summary
The Setting: A desolate post-apocalyptic future.
The Characters: Here's as oddball a bunch of characters as you're ever likely to find outside of a first time Game Master's gaming group. Of course veteran gamers will instantly be able to relate to these characters since we've all been in games with at least one of them. Some of us nearly all of them.
For starters there is Dr. Paul Hamilton (John Barrymore III) who is "Captain" because he's apparently some super scientific genius who knows all about. . . Hydroponics? Talk about back-stories that just make no sense! Reminds me of an old GURPS game I used to be in where this one guy always went out of his way to pick the weirdest set of advantages and disadvantages, took forever doing it, then whined during the game about not being able to do anything. Ugh!
Then there is Dr. Leslie Morgan (Brinke Stevens) the "field doctor" and no-nonsense gal wearing the best looking armor of the bunch, yet packs only a revolver. We've all encountered this player character in our games. They spend all their credits to look good and then get the cheapest weapons they can find. (Apparently expecting the rest of the group to take care of combat!) Never understood this mentality. Luckily Doc Morgan also has a shower scene with J. J. North. Alas she also gets abducted by the mutant Hybrid and, no, that cheap six-shot revolver didn't exactly do her a darn bit of good.
Next comes Dr. Milo Tyrell (Ted Monte) "PHD computer sciences", this is the character played by the quiet guy who you almost forget is in the game until he speaks up. Which usually results in him getting noticed by the Kafer boarding party and blasted out an airlock with half your groups frigging gear. And just when you think it can't get any worse than that there is Frank Blaine (G. Gordon Baer) of the "115th Black Light Platoon". Blaine is supposedly a marine sergeant though he's also an engineer and infamous gold thief! Did I mention he looks like a stout Scotty sans accent with an unkempt beard and earrings? Can you say Space Pirate? I knew you could!
Blaine would be played by that guy in your D&D group who keeps bugging the GM to play an ambidextrous Half-Drow Half-Dragon Duelist-Cleric-Mage, who also happens to secretly be head of the local Thieves Guild. But wait, it gets better, next there is McQueen (Tim Abell). This guy is wandering the wasteland supposedly looking for his lost son and, coincidentally, knows all about the "science installation" yet never once did this jackanapes warn anyone about the mutant Hybrid within! Nice guy, eh?
Lastly, but no less strange, is Carla Ferguson (J. J. North) "chief of communications and Dr. Morgan's field nurse". In other words she's basically Uhura and Nurse Chapel rolled into one buxom blonde package. Carla's real purpose in this flick is providing T&A and, from her lighthearted performance, one gets the impression Ms. North was just enjoying herself and happy to have the work. Not that we're complaining. top
The Story: Plot wise Hybrid follows the basic story outline of Creepozoids::
A group of post-apocalypse survivors stumble upon an abandoned research facility and take refuge. However in Hybrid the band of wasteland wanderers are seeking safety from an "Ion Storm" whereas in Creepozoids it was "Acid Rain"; a rose by any other name. Once inside the group encounters ghastly sights then quickly forgets about them as they break up into pairs to search the facility. The search teams are elated to discover a fully stocked mess hall and working showers. This leads to the predictable scene of characters chowing down while commenting about how crappy the food is. Meanwhile two of the characters pair up for some gratuitous showering.
In Creepozoids the pairing was standard Bible belt friendly male/female. (We'll assume the characters were married and they were doing their part to try to keep the human race from going extinct, Mm'kay?) However Hybrid brings the scene into the modern age of shameless homoeroticism with an eye raising Sapphic pairing. Shocking!
Freshly bathed and sated the group's sense of ease and respite turns sour as they learn that there is a reason why said research facility is abandoned. (Like we didn't see that coming!) Within its corridors lurks a violent B-movie horror with an unyielding need to rend B-movie actors' flesh. Only, wait, here Hybrid suddenly departs from Creepozoids and becomes something of an all too brief homage to Galaxy of Terror/ Inseminoid. It's a very bizarre twist that happened unexpectedly and almost too quickly when Brinke Stevens character is suddenly attacked and hauled off by the mutant. Her clothes are ripped off and these giant draconian hands appear to fondle her as the monster moves to, one assumes, impregnate the poor actress with its unholy mutant seed!
Following the sound of Doc Morgan's screams her compatriots find her, suddenly clothed, inside what appears to be some sort of old giant washing machine hatch labeled, are you ready for this, Life Pod! Bwa-huh? top
The Hybrid: The ridiculous monster costume combined with a paper-thin plot renders this particular DTV mutant strictly for bad movie connoisseurs.
Potential Game Uses Go to Report Card summary
Even the though the video quality isn't great a GM could still make a few screen caps, touch them up in photoshop or GIMP, then print them out to use as in-game illustrations. However the best use of this movie is inspiration for outlining a one-shot scenario. As this movie was built upon the simplest plot seed ever adapting it for use as a adventure scenario should be easy. Here're the basics: 1. There is an remote installation located in an isolated area of the post-apocalyptic landscape. 2. The players need to locate said facility. 3. Though the base looks abandoned it's inhabited by a vicious genetic mutant.
The goals can vary. For instance perhaps the PCs are searching for an artifact and they discover rumors that indicate it may be located in the aforementioned remote base? Perhaps the PCs have heard rumors of a scientist or solider found near the edge of the wasteland who claimed to have come from a hidden base before they died and the PCs decide to investigate? Of course a GM could also simply have the group stumble on the abandoned base as a random encounter. Not much fun that but it works.
From there the game session could pretty much be your standard exploratory dungeon delve with the player characters searching the facility looking for equipment and rations. Of course once inside the players may discover, too late, that the facility isn't as abandoned as it first appeared. The game doesn't have to devolve into a brutal corridor-by-corridor battle with mutant monster(s) that have the characters rushing to escape before they get killed. But you know it probably will and, best of all, no one will complain. This is standard genre fare so play it to the hilt! What's more this plot seed can be used over and over with slight alterations for different gaming groups. It's brilliant!
A Game Master almost doesn't need a set of rules to run this. Of course having a fully fleshed out RPG complete with monsters and equipment lists would help. Thus it is suggested that an RPG with an established post-apocalypse setting and supporting game line be used. An RPG such as one of the various editions of Gamma World, Darwin's World, or perhaps Macho Women With Guns (review). However there's many great alternatives out there from the rules lite EarthAD, the psychotronic octaNe, the totally free and crunchy Jags: Have-Not, or, if you're feeling nostalgic, you could even dust off an old classic that may be hidden away in your closet. Perhaps something like Twilight 2000 (review), Cadillacs & Dinosaurs, Aftermath, The Morrow Project, Waste World, or maybe After the Bomb. top
Video Quality: C-
DVD: B-
DVD Rating: 3
Movie Rating: 5
Recommended: Only
for Alien knock-off completists.
Comments: While
the video sleeve lists bloopers and outtakes as part of the extras
there aren't any bloopers or outtakes included on the DVD. The video
is blurry with extreme grain that, considering Hybrid was shot in
1997 and released on DVD circa 2001, makes the horrid transfer
totally inexcusable. While the minimal plot makes Hybrid perfect bad
movie night fodder it is, issues of video quality aside, not the
worst movie ever produced. Though the male actors, with the
exception of Baer who is unintentionally funny, are a pain to watch.
Sadly Brinke Stevens probably is the best actor of the bunch, which
perhaps explains why the Hybrid chose to mate with her. The silver
lining is a game could easily be made out of trying to identify what
movies the stock footage originally came from. Though that might be
tough considering how often some of the stock footage has probably
been used. Alternatively a game could also be made of trying to
identify which movies the genre standard scenes were- ahem- inspired
by. top
IN CLOSING top
As previously mentioned Hybrid is a virtual scene for scene remake of Creepozoids. This might lead some to assume that one version has to be better than the other. They'd be very wrong. For instance Creepozoids cannot hide the fact it was shot after hours on the lot of a storage warehouse as very little effort was put into hiding this fact. Conversely Hybrid put forth an effort at stage dressing that sadly breaks down any suspension of disbelief when you examine the sets too closely. (See the section on Questions above.) While it's probable both movies were shot over the course of a weekend on a shoestring budget the costumes in Crepozoids consist of army surplus fatigues paired with white t-shirts whereas Hybrid outfitted it's actors with the usual re-dressed sports gear ala Mad Max. This may look ridiculous to the average mainstream moviegoer but it is at least an effort at creative costuming. Major plus.
While it is true both movies, sans Hybrid's tacked on intro, start much the same: With a group of wasteland wanderers stumbling onto an abandoned facility who then enter said facility, discovers it to be stocked with provisions and working showers, then taking time to bathe and eat before getting attacked by a rampaging mutant the movies are also very different. For instance when compared with Creepozoids Fred Olen Ray's Hybrid appears to have better production values. Even if Hybrid looks better only because the locations and stage dressing are slightly better than the spare warehouse used in Creepozoids that's still something. Too, Hybrid has been padded out to eighty some odd minutes, whereas Creepozoids barely plays for seventy-two.
Alas the performance of the cast in both movies is uneven and the monsters are funnier than they are scary. In Creepozoids the cast are relatively young and their performances betray their inexperience. Though, for the time, there is some good puppet work near the end. But by the time the monster baby appears you're hoping that the last characters will die already so you can do something worthwhile, like take a dump. Yet the acting, at times, is almost worse in Hybrid!
Hybrid looks like most scenes were shot on a first run through basis without any prior rehearsal and it shows in the actors responses. (Keep an eye on the Sergeant slash engineer, especially near the last few seconds of his scenes.) Even if we assume most scenes in both movies were shot on the quick, as is likely the case, without any attempt to allow the actors to polish their delivery (and thus waste celluloid) that only explains the uneven performances, it does not excuse them. Then again the actors performances don't detract from the movie, as is too often the case in Z-grade DTV movies. A weak plus.
Strip Hybrid of the stock footage and retooled BMX outfits and it still manages to distinguish itself from its predecessor. Creepozoids was shot almost exclusively indoors whereas the director of Hybrid took the time to actually film establishing shots of the actors trudging through dirt trails and wilderness before moving to the dimly lit corridors of the underground lab. It's not much but it's still better than the back alley shots scene in the lead in intro to Creepozoids.
Where does that leave us? With two very interesting and distinctive low budget flicks. On the one had we have Creepozoids, which is more or less an Alien/ Demon Seed hybrid most likely inspired by Bruno Mattei's Rats: Night of Terror (1983). Then there is Hybrid, which is sort of a (attempted) cross between Creepozoids and Galaxy of Terror/ Forbidden World/ Inseminoid that never quite makes the leap into proper space opera horror. Still this is one out there flick collectors of Alien inspired B-movie monsters will want to add to their video library. Everyone else should probably just rent it. Go to Report Card summary
Copyright © 2005 C. Demetrius Morgan
