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Frank Moore, Gary McKeehan, Howard Ryshpan

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48% liked it

5,871 ratings

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61% liked it

18 critics

R, 1 hr. 31 min.

Directed by: David Cronenberg

Release Date: January 1, 1979

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DVD Release Date: October 24, 2000

Stats: 300 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (300)

  • SirPant
    September 30, 2009
    SirPant
    Quite good Zombie film but not as good as Cronenberg's previous effort, Shivers. Worth watching for the late great Joe Silver alone!
  • stopitgoaway
    August 25, 2009
    stopitgoaway
    David Cronenberg's second major movie can be viewed as a kind of sequel to "Shivers," which, in more ways than one, deals with similar themes and issues as that of the aforementioned movie. Whilst Cronenberg showed originality and a genuine talent during each of the movies he mad...( read more)e in the 1970's and early 1980's, it probably wasn't till "The Fly" and "Dead Ringers" that finally confirmed him as one of the greatest and most talented film-makers working today. Whilst movies such as "Rabid" and "The Brood" merely suggest a strong and original presence of talent coming from behind the camera (With, perhaps, an edge of genius), if one is watch each of Cronenberg's movies from "Shivers" onwards (Ending with his most recent "Crash"), his career is an interesting one to follow, simply because its obvious how his worked has matured and improved over the several decades, whilst following virtually identical themes and motives throughout. Cronenberg's obessions and passions are obvious in every one of his pictures, making him the true author of all his movies.

    "Rabid" is the mildly shocking story of a bizarre strain of rabies which spreads across many citizens of Montreal, following a revolutionary skin-graft operation which takes place on a beautiful, young motorcyclist (Maralyn Chambers).

    In its favour, "Rabid" is an automatically above-par horror tale, simply because its fascinating in a way most horror movies are not. Cronenberg also shows more control and ability than with "Shivers" this time around, with an improved narrative and a better control over his characters. Considering its low budget origins, it's generally quite a well made picture, and, because Cronenberg is so very fascinated with 'The changing of the flesh' or 'The new flesh' (A theme in virtually all of his pictures'), it becomes equally as fascinating for his audience. We come away asking questions at the end of the picture; whilst "Rabid" may be a clear fantasy, it also works as a metaphore for the outbreak of any disease. It also has numerous disturbing and memorable images, now something we should come to expect in a Cronenberg movie. There's a wonderful air of sexuality in the movie, too, and, in the past, I've read some good writings on the picture, where themes such as loneliness and want play an important role in its narrative.

    However, the film is also diappointing in many ways. The picture soon becomes repetitive when it should probably be taking a different Road altogether - Watching Ms. Chambers drain blood from victim after victim soon becomes tiresome (Though it's important to note that during such scenes, the movie is mostly un-gory and horrid - Being gruesome isn't what Cronenberg wants to do here). The movie also boasts some incredibly bad performances; whilst Chambers isn't bad (Her performance holds parallels with that of Natasha Henstridge from "Species), Frank More is truly terrible as her boyfriend. There is also big questions hanging over Chamber's motives in the movie - One can't help but wonder why she doesn't do one in a million things to stop her blood-obsessed rage e.g. Get her arm cut off! We're just not told enough about what the disease has done to Chambers; does she want to kill? If not, why doesn't she get help? If she does want to kill, what caused this? Has the strange penis-object taken partial control of her brain too?

    Perhaps the film's most ameturish and significant aspect is in the way the script never actually explains how Chambers develops the blood-sucking 'Penis' in her arm - Whilst Cronenberg's original cut of the movie had a scene left in to give an explanation, it was eventually removed because he felt it broke the tension. It's probably the script that's the movies biggest fault, or maybe we can credit it more to Cronenberg's liking for cutting-to-the-bone during editing.

    Overall, "Rabid" is a decent, unsettling horror movie that is well worth a look, and, even if its flawed and contains numerous faults, its far superior to the many hundreds of horror pictures out today.
  • FangsFirst
    January 12, 2009
    FangsFirst
    Early films by directors I admire seems to be the order of the day, at least so far. My impressions of Cronenberg have been wildly varied over the years, having seen most of his iconic films and even seeing the last two, A History of Violence and Eastern Promises, i...( read more)n theatres. I watched Scanners and had difficulty staying awake. I rented Videodrome and my dad asked what it was, and he said, "Oh another yuck-fest," with a disappointed/disgusted look. This was my first real inkling of his squeamishness (something I was almost done with by then, myself). I recall finding the name Cronenberg important at the time, but I imagine this was more due to my habit of reading my subscription of Fangoria cover-to-cover (which is a lot more reading than you might imagine). I learned a lot from reading those, but I can't definitively attribute to it my interest in Cronenberg. Certainly The Fly made a strong impression on me (if you might recall the arm-wrestling scene, perhaps), but I had not really seen any others at that time that I can recall--beyond, perhaps, a brief glimpse of Naked Lunch (which, at last viewing, also put me to sleep, somewhat inexplicably--realistically caused by exhaustion at the time though). I've had a few people comment on Rabid after telling them I purchased it, mostly telling me it was a disappointment. I didn't expect much as I have seen plenty of Cronenberg's films at this point and know the weakness of his earliest ones (which typically falls to his budgetary limitations).

    Rose (Marilyn Chambers--yes, the porn star) and Hart Read (Frank Moore) are a young couple motorcycling through Canada when a stalled van and their speed results in an accident that leaves Hart with a broken hand, injured shoulder and concussion, but Rose in a coma and in desperate need of skin grafts. The accident occurs near the Keloid Clinic, where Dr. Dan Keloid (Howard Ryshpan) is discussing the expansion of his plastic surgery practice with his wife Roxanne (Patricia Gage) and business partner Murray Cypher (Joe Silver). Dr. Keloid tries a new procedure in the process of Rose's skin graft, attempting to neutralize the morphology of the skin cells transplanted so that they can differentiate into the type of skin that should naturally be present there. Keloid is pleased with the results, especially in the emergency context they took place, but Rose remains in a coma. When she screams into consciousness, it's the middle of the night and recovering patient Lloyd Walsh (J. Roger Periard) is the only one to come check on her. When he does, she embraces him and attacks--drawing blood from him through a new appendage that has developed beneath her left arm. Lloyd survives but is groggy and amnesic when Dr. Keloid examines him and the profusely bleeding wound under his arm--which fails to coagulate--but an artificial coagulate slows it enough that Lloyd decides to leave. Lloyd's departure is cut short when he begins foaming at the mouth and attacks the man driving him away. Rose has become aware of what she needs to do to survive--draw blood--but attempts to escape, little knowing that she's leaving her victims in a state that mimics rabies and is spreading rapidly through Montreal.

    The vampire (this is vampire movie?! Cronenberg?!--sort of my reaction) is a natural choice for Cronenberg, though I never would have imagined it all the same. He's notorious for his interest in the physiological horrors, and in the psycho-sexual horrors, and the vampire has always been these things. Of course, it's not the typical vampire and it's not the typical response to them either. Rose is a vampire of need who realizes her need, yet seems to become more alien through it--a strong performance for Chambers. She tries to feed only on strangers, and she even tries to feed on an animal, but she's only so successful, and fails to recognize the chaos she's leaving in her wake. In Romero-esque fashion, the city of Montreal declares martial law and locks itself down under this epidemic, with her victims biting other people and spreading the infection. Mind you, this is closer to The Crazies than Romero's dead films, but the comparison remains. The imagery of the proboscis Rose uses and the way in which it is used (anyone surprised it's somewhat phallic?) is pure Cronenberg, as is the choice to take one victim in a porno theatre, but the rest of the film is more in line with his earlier work (Scanners, The Brood--which are earlier in a general sense, but later than this), having that grainy look of 60s and 70s film (which I guess isn't surprising since it's from 1977) and a sort of Larry Cohen-like straight-laced drama to it. There's that greater menace that Cronenberg's films carries (as compared to Cohen's), but it's still a greater percentage of the film that fits more into the Cohen mold. There's nothing at all wrong with this, but it is going to disappoint someone looking for The Fly, Videodrome or Naked Lunch. I've always liked David Cronenberg himself when I've seen him interviewed or even acting (as in Clive Barker's Nightbreed), because he has a relaxed attitude but a sharp wit, a sense of humour and a clear intelligence that he doesn't seem to lord over anyone, rather using it to share his enthusiasm for the things he cares about. This is probably what drives me most to see his films, because I know they are made by someone who means something by them and who wants to make them, who recognizes the value of horror films, and the ability to make something that isn't one, making it a reasoned choice to do it in the first place.
  • Stinger839
    September 6, 2008
    Stinger839
    I get the message: don't let your girlfriend end up in a plastic surgery clinic, even on accident, because she will totally grow a retractable barbed penis in her armpit and give the whole world the clap, not just you. But btw, she will call to tell you that it was her all along,...( read more) but only after everyone around you is dying or infected.

    This and "Shivers" are so much thematically the same. "Shivers" is the beginning of that TLC "Waterfalls" video and "Rabid" is the middle part when the guy (in the TLC video) starts looking ill, and "Videodrome" is the final chorus.
  • puffchunk
    June 26, 2008
    puffchunk
    For no explained reason some chick gets a skin graft and grows a tenticle out of her armpit that drinks human blood and infects them with a new strain of rabies. The idea of humans exhibiting rabies like wild animals if fun, and the girl isn't bad looking, but not really worth t...( read more)he time to watch.
  • monkeybobbob
    October 10, 2009
    monkeybobbob
    Cool horror and possibly the only rabies based horror i've seen! Its made by David Cronenburg so everythings not what it seems. When a young woman is hurt in a motorcycle crash she is given a new type of surgery, but during her comatose state becomes hungry for blood and starts i...( read more)nfecting everyone around her but its when she escapes from hospital that the trouble really begins. This has its gory moments but its the strength of the story, writing and direction that make this good.
  • ElCochran90
    September 16, 2009
    ElCochran90
    I gotta say, for being around the fifth film of Cronenberg (after several direct-to-TV-release shorts) and the second horror film of his, he was already demonstrating his talent in the genre, and a little sample of what would become his identifiable cinematographic style. Just fo...( read more)r that, Rabid is an early Canadian fun horror film worth watching.

    49/100
  • angryPrincess79
    June 14, 2009
    angryPrincess79
    This was a very cool movie for it's time. Who would have thought that Chambers a porn star was an excellent actress. I would love to see a remake of this one...
  • danieljparsons
    April 10, 2009
    danieljparsons
    Hmmm. Very similar to Shivers, only this one actually feels quite... campy?! Which is not something I'd normally associate with Cronenberg (even early Cronenberg). Time hasn't been too kind to this film and it feels quite dated - very of its period. The direction is very s...( read more)trong as expected, but some of the performances are just wretched. Unlike Shivers however, this film doesn't have the same repetitiveness feel about it - instead of a constant barrage of the same sequence from different angles or gender perspectives, Rabid escalates to a full epidemic, and with it the creative prosthetics get more impressive. Some very funny and clever compositions and a pretty damn fantastic music score help too.
  • ahhh1989
    March 26, 2009
    ahhh1989
    Deeply disturbing film in which a girl develops a blood sucking lesion in her armpit after a motorcycle accident. The baby scene was the worst.

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  • This famous comedy director was one of the executive producers of David Chronenburg's "Rabid"  Answer »
  • This Stephen King movie was about a rabid dog...  Answer »
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