by Cookie N Screen
If you were to ask me who my favourite director is, there would be a small pause. Deliberating over the Tarantinos and the Scorseses and the Burtons, there is so much richness in cinema that picking just one director is seemingly impossible. Except it really isn’t. Because if you are looking for someone who has the strongest body of work then I’d argue the toss over David Cronenberg. From A History of Violence to the stunning Videodrome (I said stunning!), Cronenberg has mastered dramas and horrors with gleeful perfection. More akin to body shocks such as his work with The Fly, Cronenberg started his career sickening audiences in the most joyful of ways and one of the first he started with was Rabid.
If you were to ask me who my favourite director is, there would be a small pause. Deliberating over the Tarantinos and the Scorseses and the Burtons, there is so much richness in cinema that picking just one director is seemingly impossible. Except it really isn’t. Because if you are looking for someone who has the strongest body of work then I’d argue the toss over David Cronenberg. From A History of Violence to the stunning Videodrome (I said stunning!), Cronenberg has mastered dramas and horrors with gleeful perfection. More akin to body shocks such as his work with The Fly, Cronenberg started his career sickening audiences in the most joyful of ways and one of the first he started with was Rabid.
The storyline sounds ridiculous but somehow it works: A woman, Rose, has a tragic motorbike and requires special treatment for her serious burns. However, whilst unconscious, the Doctors take it upon themselves to experiment in a new form of plastic surgery. Though the surgery is successful, it starts to have side effects on Rose – in particular, she has a small serpent like thing in her armpit that lusts for blood. As soon as she is awake she goes on a rampage to that turns all her victims into hungry zombie like creatures. Yelp!
The genius of Cronenberg is still thriving in this early work (you know, like a pincher in an armpit) and Rabid is a great film to explore his beginnings. The body horror master manages to enthuse this film with visual frights and graphic imagery. It slowly coerces the disgusting elements and the somewhat tension early on and makes those aspects of it enthralling from the beginning. Heading straight for the action, Rabid is bloody, gory and in many scenes, fun. The film can be scary – in particular moments such as the Doctors examination and Rose’s amnesia ridden blank stare – but it is laced with a rambunctious spirit too.
The genius of Cronenberg is still thriving in this early work (you know, like a pincher in an armpit) and Rabid is a great film to explore his beginnings. The body horror master manages to enthuse this film with visual frights and graphic imagery. It slowly coerces the disgusting elements and the somewhat tension early on and makes those aspects of it enthralling from the beginning. Heading straight for the action, Rabid is bloody, gory and in many scenes, fun. The film can be scary – in particular moments such as the Doctors examination and Rose’s amnesia ridden blank stare – but it is laced with a rambunctious spirit too.
This all being said, Rabid is not as good as Cronenberg’s other work and feels a lot more like an experiment rather than a fully developed film. Relying on many horror tropes, Rabid suffers from it’s lack of character development and the impact of Rose isn’t truly explored. In this respects, it becomes more of a fun fuelled film relying on the absurdity and can never shake of the ridiculousness. It’s a definitive body horror porn, with Marilyn Chambers romping throughout sexualised scenes and her own wound looking like a vagina pore that is like Teeth more so than Videodrome. Whilst the previous greatness stands – there is plenty of tension and you can enjoy the spectacle – it just doesn’t hit the layer of depth Cronenberg fans are used too.
Nevertheless, Rabid is good fun. If you are a fan of Cronenberg, it certainly has a lot of his tricks and tones as well as being lavished by this gory and creepy visuals. If you’ve ever had an ingrown body hair in your armpit, this will make you feel squeamish and uncomfortable whilst the zombies are enough to ensnare the fans of the shuffling creatures. It is great if you just want something weird to watch.
Nevertheless, Rabid is good fun. If you are a fan of Cronenberg, it certainly has a lot of his tricks and tones as well as being lavished by this gory and creepy visuals. If you’ve ever had an ingrown body hair in your armpit, this will make you feel squeamish and uncomfortable whilst the zombies are enough to ensnare the fans of the shuffling creatures. It is great if you just want something weird to watch.
Want To Read More?
Cookie loves her some Cronenberg.
Read her Essentials on the director
Or Why Videodrome is Feminist rant
Rabid is out now on DVD and Blu-ray thanks to Arrow Entertainment
Read her Essentials on the director
Or Why Videodrome is Feminist rant
Rabid is out now on DVD and Blu-ray thanks to Arrow Entertainment
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