Rabia

I'm a fan of David Cronenberg, so I've gradually been unearthing his earlier work. I watched Rabid last week, and, too my surprise, it was a pretty good B horror flick. Sure, it had plenty of bad acting (though Marilyn Chambers was good-*gasp*), was a bit too long for what it was, and was uneven overall, but I could definitely see the genius that was too come from this very young Cronenberg. Interesting flick--give it a try. **Another interesting note--look for Ivan Reitman's name in the opening credits as a producer**

Two bikers careen and crash in the Canadian countryside very close to a cosmetology clinic. The girl biker has received serious injuries and needs lots of surgery involving skin grafts. After that there is virtually no scientific or general explanation for how this young lady develops a blood-sucking mouth in her armpit, that after having bitten its victims transfers the same desire for blood; thus creating a plague in Montreal of all places. Now, the story has some obvious holes that needed to be filled and were not, but writer/director David Cronenberg can make even the most absurd stuff seem real and scary. This was his real second feature after Shivers, and he delivers the goods with some artful direction, more than ample suspense, and a pervasive mood of uneasiness in a city being besieged by a viral plague. Money constraints seem obvious as well. Whatever happened to the French detective? I found his character rather interesting.

Cronenberg made me jump from my seat more than a few times, and his style really absorbs all elements of the film even when you know what is going to happen - the shock is still there. A lot of people haven't ever been fond of Cronenberg's work, but I think that in the world of horror he is definitely one of the underestimated craftsmen. As a final note it would be remiss of me not to mention Marilyn Chambers. She does a pretty good job acting here. I found her very believable and beautiful. After all I guess there are worse ways to go then being sensuously cradled in Ms. Chambers arms as she caresses your hair and her carnivorous armpit dweller locks into your bloodstream. Perhaps. Perhaps not. I don't know - guess I'll chew on it a bit.

The second big-screen feature from Canadian horror genius David Cronenberg was this twisted well-done low budgeter.

Following a motorcycle wreck, a young woman receives skin grafts that cause her to have a murderous thrust for blood - which leads to a deadly plague.

Rabid is one nicely done little shocker. It has a clever storyline that's a unique take on the vampire/zombie genres. The makeup work is gruesomely good, the atmosphere cold and fitting, and the low-budget ambiguously well used to create a horror film that was a bit ahead of its time. In addition the cast isn't bad. Star Marylin Chambers, though better known as a porn actress, does a decent performance as the victim of the strange infection. Frank Moore is also good as Chambers' boyfriend who must save her before disaster strikes.

While granted that Rabid isn't as great as the films that Cronenberg would later unleash (The Brood, Videodrome, Dead Zone etc.) it is never the less a solid sophomore effort that well-foreshadowed the greatness Cronenberg would achieve in his later films.

*** out of ****

`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.

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.