Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg considers Rabid to be his “first epic”. And like
most good movies, it almost didn’t get made. After Cronenberg’s first feature Shivers (1975), was considered too edgy,
he struggled to get Rabid off of the
ground for a few years due to the CDFC not investing. Then, he almost backed
out of the project (originally titled Mosquito)
when it was greenlit due to doubting the premise. However, cooler heads
prevailed and Rabid, a film that’s
said by many to be a foretelling of aids, was made in Quebec
and Montreal on
a budget of just $560,00.00. The movie needed a name attached to it that’s
marketable, yet the production couldn’t afford a real actress. So, they hired
popular 70’s porn star Marilyn Chambers over their original choice of Sissy
Spacek. It worked out for the better in a sense, because you get to see Marilyn
Chambers nude several times. And Cronenberg, himself, stated that he wouldn’t
deprive his audience of not seeing Marilyn naked. You gotta appreciate a good
director who cares about his audience, don’t ya?
Rabid starts off
with Rose (Marilyn Chambers) and her boyfriend Hart (Frank Moore), on a
motorcycle cruise when they get into a serious accident. The result; Hart gets
thrown from the motorbike, while Rose gets trapped under it as it explodes.
With Rose’s intestines destroyed, a nearby plastic surgery resort; the Keloid
Clinic, takes her in to perform emergency surgery. Dr. Dan Keloid (Howard
Ryshpan) seizes the opportunity to use a “radical” method of treatment that is
similar to stem cell research. He takes a piece of flesh from Rose’s thigh and
sends it off to a lab where it can be processed to be “genetically neutral”.
The outcome is to have the tissue adapt to whatever part of the body it’s being
grafted to and look natural. After she wakes up sooner than expected, she
attacks a patient named Lloyd (Roger Periard) with a fierce looking stinger
that comes out of a butthole in her armpit and drinks blood. As it turns out,
Rose can no longer digest food properly due to the damage her intestines
endured. And as a result of the surgery, her body has adapted with a short
digestion track, so she can only feed on basic protein. Like a vampire bat. Cronenberg described it
best during the commentary when he said that it’s, “instant evolution in one
person instead of a species.” Lloyd
turns rabid in the backseat of a taxi and bites the driver causing a crash that
almost killed Cronenberg filming it. From this point in the film Rose leaves a
trail of bodies behind her including a perv in a barn, a perv in a movie
theater, Dr. Keloid and her good friend who she stays with. The version of
Rabies spreads like a zombie plague and Martial law is declared. Hart finally
finds Rose, and after telling her that she’s the carrier of the disease that’s
causing the chaos on the streets, she freaks out and flees to feed on another
victim. Hart receives a phone call from Rose who tells him that she’s fed on a
man, and is sitting in the room with his body to see if he comes back infected.
Due to the fact that Rose’s idea is as dumb as it sounds, she is killed by the
man. The movie concludes as we see Rose’s dead body getting thrown in the back
of a containment truck.
The scene with the woman biting the man’s ear on the subway
was directly inspired by Cronenberg, who admitted on the commentary that he
wanted to bite a man’s ear on the subway once. But what I find even stranger
than that little tidbit, is that no one really brings this title up when
discussing vampire movies. Sure, it might not be your typical tale of blood
drinking, but Rose is a vampire nonetheless. Some would even call this a zombie
film. What I find appealing about Rabid
is that it came before its time, and it’s still relevant. With all of the
diseases and viruses, going around nowadays who doesn’t fear an epidemic like
this happening? It’s frightening to even think about.
The movie as a whole is very good. Especially for a second effort from a
director who didn’t even go to film school! There’s very little that I dislike
about Rabid outside of Marilyn
Chambers not being able to keep her eyes from moving constantly when they’re
closed and she’s supposed to be in a coma. Her inexperience shows in her
acting. Luckily, she’s surrounded by her betters, so the movie doesn’t sink
based on her inability. Frank Moore really shines, and acts his ass off at the
end when he hears Rose being attacked through the phone. That is easily the
most memorable scene in the film in terms of performance.
Like all of Cronenberg’s other work, Rabid is intelligent, sexy and entertaining. I’ve never been scared
by a Cronenberg flick before, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying them.
Though Rabid is most certainly not Cronenberg’s
greatest achievement (that would be Videodrome
(1983)) it has held up over time and continues to find a new audience. Most
importantly, by watching his earlier projects you can see the intellectual and
innovative filmmaker Cronenberg was to become later in his career.
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