Rabid

`Rabid' is a film that fits quite nicely, albeit inconspicuously so, in David Cronenberg's full body of work. The film carries its director's signature on it in terms of content, but lacks the Cronenbergian style that viewers would later see more developed in films such as `Videodrome,' `The Fly,' and `Dead Ringers.' Here, in what is essentially Cronenberg's second `commercial' feature film, we as an audience are treated to many of the same themes that pop up in the later films of this master of the sci-fi/horror fusion genre: faceless medical/scientific corporations that do more harm than good, a main character that is reluctant to serve whatever purpose he or she is destined to perform for good or evil, and a pervading sense of an impending plague or epidemic that cannot be prevented. In `Rabid' along with Cronenberg's first feature `Shivers' this last theme is exemplified in an almost completely literal way.

While the technically amateurish (when compared to later Cronenberg films) nature of `Rabid' may seem off-putting to some, it nevertheless does not detract significantly from the wildly original content at the film's core. Cronenberg has crafted a story so unique and yet so accessible that it is hard to dismiss this or any of his films as puerile or insignificant. The situation and events presented in `Rabid' seem straight out of a science fiction novel or comic book and yet they tap into some of our deepest and most contemporary fears. What one must do when watching early Cronenberg is to remind oneself that the director was still trying in many ways to fully find himself and the best way to express his ideas. And if the viewer will put the technical inefficiencies of `Rabid' aside, he or she will find a truly enjoyable and frightening film.

The performances are all-around good, although they never seem to be able to rise above the level of typical sci-fi/horror acting. Marilyn Chambers, the most interesting casting decision of this film, plays her part relatively well, although her perpetual forced-innocent attitude becomes a bit tiresome as the film progresses. Frank Moore shows a considerably larger range of emotions than any other actor, but when nothing much is happening in terms of action, his stoic look and bland dialogue only serve to reiterate the fact that not much is happening. Bob Silverman, a minor player in a few of Cronenberg's films, also shows up for a brief cameo, although those used to his idiosyncratic performances may be left a little disappointed.

On the whole, `Rabid' is an interesting film to watch if for no other reason than to get a sampling of the director's unique sense of story and theme. In terms of technical style it definitely looks dated and is lacking in many departments, something that Cronenberg would later correct in his films from the 80's. But what this film lacks in style it more than makes up for in substance. Cronenberg is a genius in his own right, a master of the scientific side of horror and fantasy. Fans of the director will most certainly want to seek this film out, while newcomers may want to view a few of his later films before delving into this and his other early works.

After a nasty motorcycle accident, a young couple, Hart (Frank Moore) and Rose (porn star Marilyn Chambers), are taken to a nearby plastic surgery clinic, where Rose undergoes a revolutionary skin grafting technique that results in the growth of a bloodsucking tumour. Driven by the lust for plasma, Rose flees the clinic and embarks on a series of attacks which leave her victims alive, but infected with a strain of rabies that causes them to react in a violent manner. As the disease rapidly turns into a city-wide epidemic and martial law is imposed, Hart attempts to locate his missing girlfriend, unaware that she is the carrier of the disease.

With crisper cinematography and more confident direction from David Cronenberg, Rabid is a technically superior effort to his 1975 film Shivers, but doesn't manage to be as satisfying an experience thanks to a script that becomes a tad too repetitive at times, strays a little to close to George Romero's The Crazies (1973) for comfort, and perhaps most importantly, fails to answer burning questions about the nature of Rose's condition: the needle tipped, phallic mutation, which emerges from a sphincter-like orifice from under Rose's arm, is as grotesque and unsettling as anything Cronenberg has conjured up since, but it's existence is never adequately explained, most likely because no amount of in-depth exposition could ever be convincing enough.

On a more positive note, Chambers does reasonably well in her first non-porn lead role, there are some genuinely nasty moments for which makeup guy Joe Blasco provides some pretty decent effects work (I particularly enjoyed the 'finger snipping' moment, and the impressive use of a pneumatic drill by one of the infected), and Cronenberg occasionally ditches his sober approach for the odd spot of delightfully twisted humour, such as the scene in which a mall Santa Claus gets accidentally machine-gunned by a trigger happy cop (well, I found it funny!).

Whilst Rabid certainly doesn't qualify as essential Cronenberg, it is still worth a look if you're a fan of the man's work and merits a reasonable 6.5 out of 10 from this viewer (generously rounded up to 7 for IMDb).

This is Cronenberg's disappointing follow-up to the great "Shivers." Once again, the "monster" is a disease that turns the victims into crazies. The underlying subtext that sexual appetite makes you crazy is reinforced by the casting of porn star Marilyn Chambers in the lead role (she's not bad). There are some good scares and some great grotesque images (especially the frozen twisted corpse that was used in the film's poster). But the story is by turns confusing and, until the military is brought in at the end, repetitive. It feels overlong for what it is. Cronenberg had some nice directorial touches--I like the way he uses brightly lit, underpopulated buildings as a backdrop for the horror.

David Cronenberg perhaps maybe didn't get too ambitious as he forged ahead in the 70s as a low-budget director of bloody, outrageous horror films in Canada, but it was probably a good chance to learn tricks of the trade he'd know for the rest of his career. And somehow, while watching it, despite the fact that it is not masterpiece, it has all the makings of being a real influential work. Like another film that it's obviously been inspired by, Night of the Living Dead (albeit the Crazies might be in there too), Rabid seems to have given rise (no pun intended) to films like Species (hot woman out on the prowl for beings to fulfill her), 28 Days Later (obvious), and even Planet Terror (outbreak in a hospital). It's rough and with a terribly bleak ending, and it's got a certain pizazz that should keep it humming on genre fans shelves in the years to come.

Marilyn Chambers is one of the reasons the film got made- Ivan Reitman chose her over Cronenberg's (more interesting) choice of Sissy Spacek- though it is and isn't her exactly that makes Rabid a little sleazier for some reason that it might be without her. To be sure, she's the catalyst for the outbreak of the not-quite-rabies that spreads out in Montreal after a freak skin-grafting operation following a motorcycle accident (very well filmed that is, by the way). But seeing her after she gets out of the hospital and for the bulk of the picture until she reunites with Hart is a little predictable, and adds an air to the film of being too exploitive of expectations as opposed to exploiting the primitive tools of storytelling Cronenberg has. A scene like when Chambers goes into the movie theater should be freaky, but it's just sort of ho-hum.

It's not even that she lacks a certain screen presence, though at the same time, as the protagonist, she's not even really all that interesting in context with what else is going on around her. The best parts of Rabid are the side scenes, the little moments like when Joe Silver watches TV with the baby, or when the mall cop accidentally shoots the Santa Claus and mutters "Christ!", or when we see the sudden moments of the characters like the truck driver out for BBQ chicken or the random dude at night jumping on Hart's car. Those are when Cronenberg strikes it best as a pure genre director, not going too deep into theme (aside from that of the unawareness of disease and infection, a theme that would grow stronger in the 80s to be sure), plus in the shock value of the actual creature that sprouts out of Chambers mouth, which is probably even *better* concealed and revealed than with the parasites in Shivers.

At the end of it all, Rabid only really gets profound towards the very end, as a tragic scene occurs, but by then it doesn't amount to a whole lot. Rabid is a warped little blood-soaked flesh-eater flick, and it's happy with being simple and dark in its low budget.

If compiling a list of favourite directors, David Cronenberg if to be honest wouldn't be on it (having only properly started seeing his work fairly recently). If compiling though a list of the most fascinating and unique directors, he would almost certainly be on it and high up the more work seen of his. A vast majority of his films disturb in his use of imagery and make one feel uncomfortable with his tackling of challenging subjects, but as said in some of my other reviews for his films there is much more to his work than just full on horror as seen with him moving away from it in later years.

While nowhere near close to being one of his best (not one of his worst either, 'Cosmopolis' for me is a contender for that title) and do prefer 'Scanners' and 'The Brood' as far as his early/body horror films go, 'Rabid' is an interesting and more than decent effort. For so early on and with limited resources, for all its obvious faults, 'Rabid' impressed me and admired it for its ambitious premise (like with 'Shivers'). The rest of the films that are part of his filmography are far more refined visually, explore their themes/subject much deeper and are far better written and acted, but there is a good deal to like here.

Admittedly the low budget is obvious, with 'Rabid' making for one of Cronenberg's worst-looking films. It does look better and less amateurish than 'Shivers' though. The effects and make-up are well done and pretty freaky, but 'Rabid' does have a drab look and looks simplistic and unfocused, and like a low budget television film made by an experimenting student.

The script is also very clunky and too often vague with too many parts not going into anywhere near enough explanation. It did feel that a lot of time went into most other components and the script was left at the bottom of the pile.

Do think that the acting is quite a lot better in general than in 'Shivers', which only had two good performances while most of the performances were acceptable (if not always much more than that). But Frank Moore did have ropey moments from personal view.

'Rabid' has a lot of things worth praising. As said the special effects and make-up are freaky, surprising as one does expect for minimal budget for the effects to be the worst part when it comes to production values.

Cronenberg gave himself a lot to take on and does so admirably, even if his style had not fully formed yet. Yet his style can still be found all over 'Rabid', with the famous themes and ideas often re-visited in later films present but much deeper and with more subtlety later on. The story is interesting with the ambitious concept not wasted, with the pace being slicker than before.

Especially good here in 'Rabid' are two things. One being the atmosphere. The other being the horror. 'Shivers', 'Scanners' and 'The Brood' (which also all had the better scripts) to me were more disturbing and stomach churning, but that is not to say that 'Rabid' isn't either of those things, quite the contrary, with the violence still being shocking today. There are some genuine chills and shocks and the sense of dread is handled very suspensefully. The threat is scary too and the imagery does churn the stomach in typical Cronenberg fashion. Enough of the acting is acceptable, with Marilyn Chambers being a surprisingly good lead (was honestly expecting her to be a disaster).

Summarising, decent film. 7/10