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Rabid poster

RABID

1977 • CA HMDB
April 8, 1977

After undergoing radical surgery for injuries from a motorcycle accident, a young woman develops a retractable, vampiric stinger in her armpit and a thirst for human blood.

Cast

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Crew

Production: Ivan Reitman (Executive Producer)André Link (Executive Producer)John Dunning (Producer)
Screenplay: David Cronenberg (Writer)
Cinematography: René Verzier (Director of Photography)

REVIEWS (1)

Marco Castellini •
Following a car accident, a young woman suffers severe burns on many parts of her body; she is admitted to a private clinic where she is transplanted with new skin, according to a new procedure developed by an important surgeon. At first everything seems to go well, but after a few days the woman begins to undergo a sort of genetic change, she transforms into a bloodthirsty being. With her bites she infects other people who, in turn, transform, spreading the plague all over the world. The visionary Cronenberg takes another shot at doctors (whom he doesn't seem to hold in high regard, given how he portrays them in his films), this time guilty, even, of contaminating the entire world with a terrible disease, and crafts an enjoyable and quite unsettling film, especially in the final part; the central section of the film turns out to be a bit too slow, ruining, in part, the entire film. The best remain, without a doubt, the final sequences in which the few survivors not yet infected by the disease try to escape from the terrible "beings", moments that seem precursors of the unforgettable "Zombi" by Romero, without having, however, the charm and visual impact of the latter.
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COMMUNITY REVIEWS (1)

John Chard

John Chard

7 /10

Hydrophobic Induced Phallic Destroyer.

Rabid is written and directed by David Cronenberg and it stars Marilyn Chambers, Frank Moore and Joe Silver. Cinematography is by Rene Verzier and music by Ivan Reitman.

When Rose (Chambers) is involved in a horror motorcycle accident, she undertakes experimental surgery in order to save her life. However, she develops a taste for blood and has grown a deadly orifice under her armpit. As the victims stack up and Rose grows ever more insane, the city is put on red alert.

David Cronenberg’s second full-length film continues the themes found in his smart debut Shivers from the previous year. Body horror and disease come to the fore but Cronenberg expands it out from the confines of one building, into a whole city! Once again operating with a small budget with great results, the director fills out the narrative with sweaty virus panic, intelligent barbs, addiction concerns and visceral nastiness, with the phallic destroyer under Rose’s arm a frighteningly bonkers creation. True to the director’s career peccadilloes, sex and violence also come under the microscope, while his camera work shows an inventiveness that off-sets the poor effects work. The city is suitably painted as dowdy so as to run concurrent with the diseased narrative, and porn star Chambers gives a very effective performance while others are merely adequate.

A simple story and periods of sag and drag stop it being top of the line Cronenberg, but there’s a raw energy to Rabid that is most striking. Watching it now as it heads towards being four decades old, it signals with intent a career being born of a most skilled auteur. 7/10

Reviews provided by TMDB