Directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska (aka The Twisted Twins; American Mary, Dead Hooker in a Trunk) is the 2019 horror film Rabid, a semi-remake of David Cronernberg’s 1977 film of the same name. Fashion designer Rose Miller (Laura Vandervoort) is scarred from a car accident in her childhood, and alongside fashion model Chelsea (Hanneke Talbot) and photographer Brad (Ben Hollingsworth), works under the eccentric and often rude Gunter (Mackenzie Gray). Following an accident, Rose agrees to have her injuries fixed by controversial Dr William Burroughs (Ted Atherton), but seems to experience some horrifying side effects.
+ none of the acting was bad, but none were particularly good, either. Vandervoort is incredibly gorgeous, and her change in nature due to her looks was an intentional aspect of her character. Gunter (Gray) was kind of funny, in a condescending jerk kind of way, and I enjoyed the ‘is he evil, crazy, neither, or both’ aspect of Dr Burroughs (Atherton)
+ there is not a huge amount of real Cronenberg-esque body horror, but there is enough blood and guts to keep things interesting. It’s not so much gross and confronting as just ‘middle of the road’ in the climate of today’s gore in horror movies
+ personal favourites Greg Byrk (Far Cry 5‘s Joseph Seed) and Phil Brooks (wrestling and MMA’s CM Punk – favourite in those roles, not yet as an actor) have small roles, as does Punk’s real life wife, April Mendez (fka AJ Lee in WWE)
– watching this amid 2020’s COVID-19/coronavirus quarantine, imagine my surprise at hearing lines like this: “We could be looking at an epidemic unlike anything the world has ever seen,” and “If this gets on the news, it’s going to cause a panic. What we need to do is quarantine the infected people before it gets out of the city,” and, “We have faced public health crises before … what is this really? A fucking head cold.” This added a very real world threat to this otherwise un-real horror movie
Should you see this film: Whether you have seen the original or not, this is a gruesome, out-of-this-world horror movie, with some very real lessons to learn. Vandervoort and Atherton are good in their roles, and the plot progresses to a solid ending. This was a lot of fun.
MoshFish Reviews 
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