Sign In / Sign Up

Rabid

Rabid
Release date: 1977-04-08
Rating: 6.3
Votes: 537
Genres: Horror, Science Fiction
After undergoing radical surgery for injuries from a motorcycle accident, a young woman develops a retractable, vampiric stinger in her armpit and a thirst for human blood.

Reviews

John Chard

John Chard

Hydrophobic Induced Phallic Destroyer. Rabid is written and directed by David Cronenberg and it stars Marilyn Chambers, Frank Moore and Joe Silver. Cinematography is by Rene Verzier and music by Ivan Reitman. When Rose (Chambers) is involved in a horror motorcycle accident, she undertakes experimental surgery in order to save her life. However, she develops a taste for blood and has grown a deadly orifice under her armpit. As the victims stack up and Rose grows ever more insane, the city is put on red alert. David Cronenberg’s second full-length film continues the themes found in his smart debut Shivers from the previous year. Body horror and disease come to the fore but Cronenberg expands it out from the confines of one building, into a whole city! Once again operating with a small budget with great results, the director fills out the narrative with sweaty virus panic, intelligent barbs, addiction concerns and visceral nastiness, with the phallic destroyer under Rose’s arm a frighteningly bonkers creation. True to the director’s career peccadilloes, sex and violence also come under the microscope, while his camera work shows an inventiveness that off-sets the poor effects work. The city is suitably painted as dowdy so as to run concurrent with the diseased narrative, and porn star Chambers gives a very effective performance while others are merely adequate. A simple story and periods of sag and drag stop it being top of the line Cronenberg, but there’s a raw energy to Rabid that is most striking. Watching it now as it heads towards being four decades old, it signals with intent a career being born of a most skilled auteur. 7/10

Movie Recommendation

  • Shivers
    Shivers
    1975-05-16
    The residents of a suburban high-rise apartment building are infected by parasites that turn them into mindless nymphomaniac fiends.
    More...
  • White Lightnin'
    White Lightnin'
    2009-01-19
    Deep in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia, where every man owns a gun and a moonshine still, abides living legend Jesco White, "the dancing outlaw". As a boy Jesco was in and out of reform school and the insane asylum. To keep him out of trouble, his daddy D-Ray taught him the art of mountain dancing, a frenzied version of tap dancing to wild country banjo music. After his father's death, crazy Jesco dons his father's tap shoes and takes his show on the road.
    More...
  • The Italian Machine
    The Italian Machine
    1976-12-02
    This TV play, written and directed David Cronenberg, explores one of his enduring themes: obsessive relationships with technology. A group of bike fanatics determine to get their hands on a Ducati 900 Desmo SuperSport owned by a rich guy, by any means necessary.
    More...
  • The Case Is Closed, Forget It
    The Case Is Closed, Forget It
    1971-10-27
    Arrested on suspicion of a hit and run, a succesful architect is put in prison awaiting trial or release. Whilst there he witnesses the grim reality of life behind bars: corrupt staff, corrupt inmates, an inhuman judicial system and the power of the Mafia.
    More...
  • The Forest
    The Forest
    2012-12-14
    The life of a spanish couple gets complicated when the Civil War begins and a strange green light appears in the woods, opening the door to the world of the Bream Lords.
    More...
  • The Killing Machine
    The Killing Machine
    1995-01-11
    Harlin Garret loses his memory and finds himself closed in a facility claimed to belong to the state security services. The manager of this place tells Garrett he used to be a killer for the mob but Garrett refuses to believe. Then he is forced to kill people that are a "Risk to the state security", but the whole story gets complicated when Garret falls in love with one of his victims...
    More...
  • The Brood
    The Brood
    1979-05-25
    A man tries to uncover an unconventional psychologist's therapy techniques on his institutionalized wife, while a series of brutal attacks committed by a brood of mutant children coincides with the husband's investigation.
    More...
  • The Uncanny
    The Uncanny
    1977-08-24
    Wilbur Gray, a horror writer, has stumbled upon a terrible secret, that cats are supernatural creatures who really call the shots. In a desperate attempt to get others to believe him, Wilbur spews three tales of feline horror.
    More...
  • Pity
    Pity
    2018-09-12
    The story of a man who feels happy only when he is unhappy: addicted to sadness, with such need for pity, that he’s willing to do everything to evoke it from others. This is the life of a man in a world not cruel enough for him.
    More...
  • Scarecrows
    Scarecrows
    1988-09-28
    Five men heist the Camp Pendleton payroll and kidnap a pilot and his daughter, who are forced to fly them to Mexico. Enroute a double cross has one of the thieves parachute with the loot into an abandoned farm surrounded by strange scarecrows. The rest of the team jump after their loot and their former partner. Everything happens during the course of one very dark night.
    More...
  • Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers
    Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers
    1988-03-01
    Los Angeles private eye Jack Chandler is hired by a worried mother to find her missing runaway daughter, Samantha. As Chandler searches for her whereabouts, he uncovers an evil cult that worships an Egyptian god, whose followers commit human sacrifices with chainsaws to appease their deity. He soon learns that Samantha has revenge in store for the cult leader and his bevy of blood-thirsty, chainsaw-wielding hookers.
    More...
  • Riddle of Fire
    Riddle of Fire
    2024-03-21
    Three mischievous children embark on a woodland odyssey when their mother sends them on an errand.
    More...
  • The Wonderland
    The Wonderland
    2019-04-26
    The story follows Akane, a girl with no self-confidence. On the day before her birthday, she meets a mysterious alchemist, Hippocrates, and his student, Pipo, who both tell her they're on a mission to save the world. Together, they set out from the basement for "Wonderland," and Akane finds herself labelled Wonderland's savior.
    More...
  • Ladybugs
    Ladybugs
    1992-03-27
    To climb the corporate ladder to success, a businessman agrees to coach his company's all-girl soccer team with the help of his secret weapon: his fiancee's son.
    More...
  • M. Butterfly
    M. Butterfly
    1993-10-01
    In 1960s China, French diplomat Rene Gallimard falls in love with an opera singer, Song Liling – but Song is not at all who Gallimard thinks.
    More...
  • Martin
    Martin
    1978-05-10
    A young man, convinced he's a vampire, goes to live with his elderly and hostile cousin in a small Pennsylvanian town, where he tries to suppress his bloodlust.
    More...
  • Reversal of Fortune
    Reversal of Fortune
    1990-10-19
    Wealthy Sunny von Bülow lies brain-dead, husband Claus guilty of attempted murder; but he says he's innocent and hires Alan Dershowitz for his appeal.
    More...
  • Basket Case
    Basket Case
    1982-04-02
    A young man carrying a big basket that contains his extremely deformed, formerly conjoined twin brother seeks vengeance on the doctors who separated them against their will.
    More...
  • Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones
    Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones
    2019-08-26
    Dave Chappelle takes on gun culture, the opioid crisis and the tidal wave of celebrity scandals in this defiant stand-up special.
    More...
  • Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
    Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
    1973-05-23
    Pat Garrett is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid.
    More...

Similar Movies