dwatts
04-18-2003, 09:50 PM
Rabid
Director David Cronenberg
Roger Corman – The Directors Series
New Concorde DVD
4:3
Extras: Trailer and Bios
Guy and gal on a motorcycle. They hit a truck. She gets injured quite seriously, he has minor injuries. Fortunately, they crash right outside a cosmetic surgery hospital. She is whisked inside where they try some experimental reconstructive surgery, and he heads back to Montreal while she heals.
One anus under the arm (with a penis hiding inside), some bloodletting and frothy mouths later, and we have the makings of another strange (if early) Cronenberg effort.
Rabid was a film that at various points I both liked and disliked. Having sat through the whole thing I can conclude that the opening sequences, and the slowness of the tale movie to Montreal, is the problem.
In the latter stages of the film, things really pick up, although the low budget really hurts (it’s hard to portray a city under siege with no money and one garbage truck). However, what we do get to see is kind of interesting.
The movie is called Rabid because of a disease that is going around, this is thought to be rabies. Actually though, people are turned into these cool zombie type creatures. Some of the deaths are really quite inventive (jack hammer through the door of a car?) and there is a bit of blood too. And hey, Marilyn Chambers plays the female lead, and she doesn’t mind doing plenty of topless work.
Still, something just failed to fully engage me here. The lighting is poor, one sequence takes place in a movie theater, where the lights are turned up quite brightly, yet everyone is staring at the screen as though it’s black. To be honest, everything looks overlit to me.
Maybe it’s the fault of a merely “okay” transfer (but I doubt it). The colors are okay (but a bit muted) and the lack of dynamic lighting makes every scene look the same. Sound is mono. There are some good performances though.
All in all, I’d have to say that from my point of view, some of the earlier Cronenberg films sound better when they’re discussed, than when you actually watch them. I never thought I would say that – because I have seen Videodrome and Dead Ringers so many times, and am NEVER disappointed. But after The Brood (which I thought was just okay) and this, I have to wonder if the early works (though interesting from a formative perspective) really hold up. Looking like a straight to video movie, this one is not a “must own” imho. If you can get it cheap, do so. Maybe there is a better version out there somewhere.
Director David Cronenberg
Roger Corman – The Directors Series
New Concorde DVD
4:3
Extras: Trailer and Bios
Guy and gal on a motorcycle. They hit a truck. She gets injured quite seriously, he has minor injuries. Fortunately, they crash right outside a cosmetic surgery hospital. She is whisked inside where they try some experimental reconstructive surgery, and he heads back to Montreal while she heals.
One anus under the arm (with a penis hiding inside), some bloodletting and frothy mouths later, and we have the makings of another strange (if early) Cronenberg effort.
Rabid was a film that at various points I both liked and disliked. Having sat through the whole thing I can conclude that the opening sequences, and the slowness of the tale movie to Montreal, is the problem.
In the latter stages of the film, things really pick up, although the low budget really hurts (it’s hard to portray a city under siege with no money and one garbage truck). However, what we do get to see is kind of interesting.
The movie is called Rabid because of a disease that is going around, this is thought to be rabies. Actually though, people are turned into these cool zombie type creatures. Some of the deaths are really quite inventive (jack hammer through the door of a car?) and there is a bit of blood too. And hey, Marilyn Chambers plays the female lead, and she doesn’t mind doing plenty of topless work.
Still, something just failed to fully engage me here. The lighting is poor, one sequence takes place in a movie theater, where the lights are turned up quite brightly, yet everyone is staring at the screen as though it’s black. To be honest, everything looks overlit to me.
Maybe it’s the fault of a merely “okay” transfer (but I doubt it). The colors are okay (but a bit muted) and the lack of dynamic lighting makes every scene look the same. Sound is mono. There are some good performances though.
All in all, I’d have to say that from my point of view, some of the earlier Cronenberg films sound better when they’re discussed, than when you actually watch them. I never thought I would say that – because I have seen Videodrome and Dead Ringers so many times, and am NEVER disappointed. But after The Brood (which I thought was just okay) and this, I have to wonder if the early works (though interesting from a formative perspective) really hold up. Looking like a straight to video movie, this one is not a “must own” imho. If you can get it cheap, do so. Maybe there is a better version out there somewhere.