Just in time for Valentine’s Day, it’s David Cronenberg’s Rabid! This 1977 horror film was made in Montreal, Quebec, and had the support of the Canadian Film Development Corporation. Packed with Freudian imagery and a healthy dose of gore, Rabid is an intriguing film. Cronenberg is one of my favourite directors and I find his work to be fascinating. His manipulation of sex and violence to provide shocking, stunning results is always something of note. He hasn’t abandoned those themes, either, as the recent Eastern Promises still demonstrates Cronenberg’s power as a director and his ability to create shocking yet compelling material. He is one of Canada’s best filmmakers, without question.
Rabid was Cronenberg’s fourth film. Cronenberg’s horror films always investigate the terror as it comes from within, not from some sort of external monster. Rabid is no different, following up on the theme of his previous film, Shivers, by manipulating the vampire theme slightly and including a strange lesion as the source of all of the havoc. Cronenberg’s metaphorical sense is on overdrive, too, as the appearance of the lesion is an odd combination of a vaginal-looking parasite with a phallic insert that drills into its victims. This amalgamation of male and female sexual organs is an obvious allegory towards unbridled sexuality and the rabid spread of disease, much like in Shivers.
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