RABID – The Soskia twins’ version. I try not to make too many comparisons when it comes to adaptions and remakes, but this is a pretty good stab at updating what was for Cronenberg a minor work (in my opinion). In some ways this film is more typical of the current state of B horror than perhaps the original ‘Rabid’ was during its own day – it doesn’t have anything like Cronenberg’s chilly atmosphere of detachment, although interestingly there’s a real strand of spitefulness that runs through most of its characters. Another thing that stands out is the Soskias’ well-established body-mod preoccupation, which is obviously in the right place if we’re talking Cronenberg territory. Basing it around the goings-on in a fashion house was a good move, and perhaps in some ways the ‘hidden text’ here is ‘Ms 45’, given that the Soskia’s version tilts towards ideas about gender and social oppression (sort of, but don’t worry, there are more special effects and people dying horribly than in your average sociology lecture). There are also lots of stylised nods to other Cronenberg movies, from ‘Shivers’ to ‘Dead Ringers’, and some nice weird bits that seem quite random; even William Burroughs pops up to remind us that before Cronenberg came Dr Benway. Fans of physical violence won’t feel hard done by, but maybe the Soskias might have played up the graft-gone-wrong angle a little more, as some of that ripe grotesquery feels a little restrained, at least until the nihilistic conclusion, which is enlivened by some nice biomorphic horror. It doesn’t drag at all, but still ‘Rabid’ could’ve done with being less expansive in places, and the interplay between the parallel narratives of the rabies epidemic and the central character’s ‘awakening’ is a bit clunkily handled. But overall I found ‘Rabid’ entertaining and interesting and adequately gratuitous, and another step towards the great movie I often think the Sokias are going to make.
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