Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Laura Vandervoort, Benjamin Hollingsworth, Ted Atherton, Hanneke Talbot, Stephen Huszar, Mackenzie Gray,  Stephen McHattie, Kevin Hanchard, Heidi von Palleske, Joel Labelle, C.M. Punk, Edie Inksetter, Tristan Risk, Sylvia Soska, Jen Soska, Vanessa Jackson, Joe Bostick, Troy James, Greg Bryk, Earl Bubba McLean Jr, A. J. Mendez, Dion Karas, Amanda Zhou, Lily Gao.

Disease is all the rage, especially the ones that brings human beings to the level of nothing more of the unthinking and savage, the brutal and the one that is driven by hunger. Disease is the great leveller and as what is on screen can mimic the daily survival of society, it seems only fair that cinema constantly finds new ways to remind the viewer of the fragility of human existence.

From the directorial arm of Jen and Sylvia Soska, Rabid certainly should be applauded for its bite, its stamina, however, the film also seems to have issues with its own presence, the nakedness of introspection that it wants to feel comfortable in, whilst appreciating that it sets out to shock in a similar way perhaps to that of the classic savagery that was infused in the D.N.A. of John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London.

When Laura Vandervoort’s Rose, a fashion designer who finds it difficult to stand out and be as extravert as her position and her boss demands, is severely injured in an accident, it seems her only hope is an experimental skin graft which will cover up her facial deformity. It is to this end that the film’s naked perspective finds itself revealing what stands at the heart of the matter, that is not so much a film about disease, the unethical practices of a medical system that allows for such practices to stand, but that of the faceless and zealous approach to fashion, marketing and lack of integrity that truly display signs of the rabid nature of humanity.

Viewed as a horror film, Rabid stands squarely with those obsessed with the idea of contagion, of the walking dead, the zombie films we all know and cherish, however, it arguably also finds itself in a position where it doesn’t want to keep the connection as neat and clean as it first offers. Whilst the intent is there, whilst it makes great pains to show the fine line between the savage side of humanity when it reduced and guided by another organism, the final snapshot is not as convincing as it surely wanted to be.

A film that was largely neglected upon release, a film that keeps its integrity, but which doesn’t allow itself to open up to all its possibilities.

Ian D. Hall