Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageRabid (1976)
Director: David Cronenberg
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
As a maker of sci-fi/horror movies, Cronenberg seems obsessed with the links between sex and violence as well as the Body Snatchers theme of a possessed community. His earlier combination of the two strains in Shivers was too mechanically lurid and derivative to be very effective, but Rabid is far more successful. This time Cronenberg has opened up his story so that it literally portrays the panic and slow devastation of a whole Canadian city: a new strain of rabies reduces its victims to foaming murderous animals, and Cronenberg examines the mysterious sexual agency behind the plague with bewitching ambiguity. Rabid is also far better staged than its predecessor, and the best scenes, including one classic episode in a chicken takeaway, are pitched ingeniously between shock and parody, never quite succumbing to farce. None of the other recent apocalypse movies has shown so much political or cinematic sophistication.Author: DP
Cast & crew
Director: David Cronenberg
Producer: John Dunning
Cast: Marilyn Chambers, Frank Moore, Joe Silver, Howard Ryshpan, Patricia Gage, Susan Roman, J Roger Periard full cast
Genre(s): Horror
Duration: 91 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
James Marsh on ‘Man on Wire’
James Marsh tells David Jenkins the amazing story of ‘Man on Wire’ and how he saw the Twin Towers go up – and come down
Gurinder Chada on ‘Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging’
Gurinder Chada, the director of Brit hit, 'Bend it Like Beckham' discusses her new film, ‘Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging’ with Wally Hammond
A holiday guide to movie dystopias
‘Going anywhere nice this summer, sir?’ To celebrate the release of Pixar’s sublime post-apocalyptic robo-romance ‘Wall-E’, Time Out offers a tour guide of the best future worlds in film
Eddie Murphy's Crimes Against Cinema
We all remember the comic highs of 'Beverly Hills Cop' and 'Bowfinger', but Eddie Murphy has been in a fair few stinkers as well. Time Out to presents a handy rundown of his ten darkest cinematic hours...
What do you think?
Post your review now