Typically most sci-fi films featuring corrupt corporations (Resident Evil, Hell of the Living Dead) portray scientists as evil rats in white lab coats who tower over a mix of hazardous chemicals. This movie tried its best to be realistic, beginning with just average scientists who make the simple mistake of releasing a bioweapon that drives them to madness eventually. The government comes in, revealing that the Biotek Agronomics factory is secretly something the world shouldn't see. All the employees including most scientists and a security officer, get trapped inside Biotek as they begin to faint and get sick from the virus. Joanie (the security officer), wants nothing more than to help her co-workers and get back outside to her husband. She joins her scientist friend Doctor Schmidt, who is starting to also fall victim to the virus, and they realize that their once-normal co-workers have all gone insane from the virus, becoming hostile drones who want to kill everybody. By the time Joanie and Schmidt get away to the lab, Schmidt is already dying and Joanie wants to quickly find some sort of cure.Meanwhile, outside, Joanie's husband Cal is teaming up with a former Biotek employee alcoholic to save everyone. They plan to infiltrate the premises, find Joanie and the scientists, and get out. When they get to the lab, Schmidt is dead (the virus had been on his contact lenses and Joanie murdered him to save herself), and Joanie is searching for a cure. When she finally finds one, she saves her friends and gets out with her husband. The only casualties are Schmidt and another older scientist, so the government shuts down Biotek and abandons it in an open but lonely field, leaving behind the dreadful events.First off, I love the soundtrack. The main theme has to be the most amazing music I've ever heard in a film. Second, despite the budget, the actors did a great job and the film was made to look as real as possible. The mysterious Biotek building and its surroundings were excellently designed, and the plot was realistic. Unlike the completely unrealistic idea of cannibal living dead in Resident Evil and Hell of the Living Dead, Warning Sign showed something of a different sort, not zombies, just innocent people who were contaminated and then lost their minds to murder people. It's original, it follows real pharmaceutical science somewhat, and it was made before the 21st century (A.K.A. the century of stupidity if people think the Hunger Games garbage is better than this). I'd give it 10/10 stars any day, and recommend it to anyone looking for a horror film with real aspects of science in it. Sadly, Warning Sign is currently unpopular and very underrated. I think it's a movie everybody should see at some point, because it creates a scenario of the thing everyone is afraid of... what if scientists are doing something evil?

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.

I don't know if Zombie purists would call it a zombie film but this nice little picture stands the test of time to tonight's DVD viewing. I enjoyed almost all of it but the ending could have been better. The film makes some big comments on genetic engineering and the government/ corporation relationships regarding this. I would google this subject out and you will find some stories just as scary as this film! Some real scares there. I like how the film doesn't make me cringe like many sci-fi/horror films of the period but actually impressed me. A hidden gem. Highly competent film that sustains almost to the end. The film involves some zombie concepts but doesn't follow the formula quite like the other films in that genre. Great cast and the direction is restrained. The film stands the test of time so source it out.

This wasn't a bad film for its time. The cast is especially good. Sam Waterston and Jeffery Demunn play very well off each other and Kathleen Quinlen is a criminally underused actress, so it is always nice to see her.The plot line has echoes of George Romero's earlier paen to paranoia and bio warfare spills 'The Crazies'. This film also pre-figures Resident Evil and 28 Days Later but played on a much smaller scale. Watching a film shot in the mid 1980's now serves as a reminder of just how bombastic and over-the-top most current films have become.A modest effort but entertaining nonetheless.