Rabid (1977)

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

David Cronenberg's third feature-length film, but Like most his early work this movie is fascinating. Intelligent and well thought this movies has many political and social criticism under the surface, and he is definitely trying to comment on the objectification of women. Even if the screenplay seems under-developed and the movie under budgeted it's a gem. This weird zombie/parasitic/sex allegory is definitely worth watching. I probably have seen this movie a dozen times and even today I still find it enjoyable, intriguing and a great commentary on society. The soundtrack is reminiscent of John Carpenter's. Ivan Reitman did a wonderful job assembling the music from a variety of sources. Brian Bennett's tracks are an added bonus.A lot of blood and gore as you would expect from a movie that seems to be a simple exploitation flicks but offers far more. Starring 70s porn star Marilyn Chambers (Behind the Green Door) as the female lead, Cronenberg is without a doubt the grandfather of body horror and this movie pioneered the genre. I would choose Rabid over Shivers or Scanners any time.

An early David Cronenberg film, "Rabid" showcases the director's skill at unsettling his audience with themes of disease transmission and infection. The plot sees the heroine Rose (Marilyn Chambers) suffering a road accident and receiving emergency treatment at a plastic surgery clinic (due to it being the closest place to the accident site). The treatment she receives is experimental, and the results are unexpected to say the least because Rose develops some very unnatural eating habits, leaving a string of victims behind her, who go on to spread a fatal infection to other people. The character development is better than it might have been. Rose is oblivious to the chaos she is causing. She is scared and confused by her own physical condition, but unaware that her victims are becoming something far worse than she is. Marilyn Chambers does a good job in the role. Wavering between frightened, nauseous, sexually alluring and bewildered, she successfully carries the movie. Some of her ambiguous expressions may be a result of the actress's inexperience but I think this makes Rose a complex character. In some of her scenes she has an impassive, almost sleepwalking demeanour but for me this works too, and I was able to imagine the many layers of inner dialogue going on inside her mind. Chambers is surrounded by an excellent supporting cast. All the acting is all very natural, and the people who get ill really do look horrible. The film goes a lot further with it's spread of the rabies-like disease than I expected, skilfully hiding it's low budget. Scenes of attacks on subway trains and in shopping malls are chilling and realistic. The special effects are very good. My only niggle is the amount of time Rose spends naked in the film, in many scenes where it is simply not relevant, and it seems like Cronenberg exploited Chamber's past movie career by asking her to do this and boost box office takings. The role would have worked very well without it. One other issue is that all of the men Rose meets after she leaves the hospital seem to be slimeballs who only want one thing. Like his previous film "Shivers", the movie seems to warn of the perils of sexual contact. It does it well, and the result is effective and memorable.

Rose (Marilyn Chambers) is injured in a motorcycle accident. Doctor Dan Keloid performs an experimental grafting surgery. A growth in her armpit becomes a dangerous stinger which she uses to suck the blood. Her victims turn into crazed flesh eating zombies who then spreads the disease. Soon she escapes the hospital and it spreads into the city.This is an earlier Cronenberg. It's got some of his body horror style. While the armpit monster gets the headlines, the leg skin is actually quite gruesome. Marilyn Chambers' acting is better than expected but it's by no means great. She's good enough to be in a B-horror. None of the other characters stand out and it's hard to feel the horror.

Rabid is an early feature film written and directed by David Cronenberg and produced by Ivan Reitman. It is a low budget independent film set and shot in Canada.The film is a straight role for porn star Marilyn Chambers who plays Rose, a critically injured woman involved in a motorbike accident and taken to a plastic surgery hospital where she undergoes experimental treatment to treat her burns.Although her boyfriend was also involved in the accident he is released because he had less serious injuries and he has been told that Rose is in a coma. However Rose develops a vaginal orifice in her armpit and from there s phallic stinger emerges that sucks blood from a victim as Rose develops a desire to feed from blood. In turn the victims become crazed zombies who also want flesh and blood and soon there is an epidemic in Canada as zombies run rampant.The film is low budget and looks it. It has the embryonic cold finish that Cronenberg would become better known from. Its an early cult film from him, the Canadian setting gives it a nice authenticity. There is some effective thrills and horror but also some lame lines. The film with the orifice in the armpit, the phallic stinger sucking blood is presumably making a point about sexual politics, physical horror and human sexuality. Cronenberg is a man who makes more than just a cheap horror film, he is a cerebral person and someone who studied biochemistry. The body, revulsion at the body is a common feature in his work.However Chambers is just OK but the film needed a stronger actress. She is pretty, appealing enough to be a vamp tempting men who she can devour them. Frank Moore plays the boyfriend, he looks like Christopher Walken but does not have his magnetism or acting chops and comes across as dull and weak. The film has a rather downbeat ending and has obviously been inspired by the Night of the Living Dead.