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Cronenberg gets mad credit for his films during the ‘80s and ‘90s, but in the ‘70s, while most horror twats were rocking the whole slasher formula and trying to figure out a way to take advantage of it themselves, Cronenberg was slowly cultivating and developing his “body horror” style which would come to be fully realized later in his career. One of the first films he attempted to tackle was a little movie called Rabid, and odd mishmash of medical mumbo jumbo and truly off the wall occurrences. The film plays out like a more realistic Dawn of the Dead mixed with a ideas that could almost conceivably work… and then it gets all crazy in true Cronenbergian fashion.

The film starts out with a killer motorcycle accident as a couple is torched in an explosion. Luckily, they crash within driving distance of the Keloid Institute, a plastic surgery facility. The doctor in charge performs a radical treatment on the female of the couple, an experiment that will have dire consequences for the entire country of Canada. The woman develops a fevered lust for blood, and everyone she attacks turns into a rabid bloodlusting freak… kind of like a comic book geek after they are told that The Dark Knight is sold out.

The film is rough around the edges, but for a second feature from a Canadian director, it is pretty impressive. The scale of the film is excellent and feels like it was shot with a budget that was at least four times more than it actually was. Cronenberg’s film isn’t anywhere near as good as his films from later in his career, but Rabid definitely shows the potential that was within him. The best part about the movie is the way that it starts out small and grows progressively larger, capturing the growing panic of the epidemic as it spreads across Canada.

The acting is awesome. Pornstar Marilyn Chambers proves that she can do more than just suck cocks as the alluring Rose. Chambers makes the film and she exists as the sole quality performance in the whole film. The rest of the cast is distinctly… Canadian. Meaning they don’t exhibit much emotion at all. Besides… even if they were good it would be wasted when you’re so busy staring at Chambers’ chesticles the whole time.

Rabid is a great flick in its own right, even if you were to throw out the fact that it is an early Cronenberg flick and features a scantily clad Marilyn Chambers. There are some great scenes of carnage and they are all done with some killer, over-the-top special effects. People turn into rabid monsters that foam at the mouth and take out other people until the whole city of Montreal falls under martial law… if only Canada would suffer that fate for real. You’ve got exploding heads, people being gunned down left, and right and even a Santa-cide… you can’t beat that.

Rabid has its flaws, but it still rocks. If anything, it’s probably better than when it first came out… there’s just something awesome about watching a ‘70s pornstar suck the blood out of people with her armpit vagina… not so sure about the “Drunken Indian” characters listed in the film’s credits, but fuck it, it’s Cronenberg.

Final Synopsis: Rabid is great for two reasons. Reason #1: It really allows you to see the growth in Cronenberg’s style, when contrasted with his later flicks. Reason #2: A pornstar attacks people with her vagina armpit. You can’t beat that. Watch the shit out of this movie. It’s awesome.

Points Lost: -1 for shitty melodramatic score, -1 for the actor playing the main dude, he sucks, -1 for a lame ending

Lesson Learned: Always check a chick’s armpit before you bang her.

Burning Question: Why didn’t Chambers’ career take off? You know… besides the whole slurping dongs on film thing.

Rabid
7/10

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