Rabid: Steelbook – Arrow Video (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Canada, 1977
Director: David Cronenberg
Writer: David Cronenberg
Cast: Marilyn Chambers, Frank Moore, Joe Silver, Howard Ryshpan, Patricia Gage, Susan Roman

Release Date: February 16th, 2015
Approximate Running Time: 91 Minutes 20 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVCC
Rating: 18 (UK)
Sound: LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region B/Region 2 PAL (UK)
Retail Price: OOP

"When Rose (Marilyn Chambers) is involved in a motorcycle crash in a remote spot she is taken to a local research centre where she receives emergency treatment. Rose survives, but with an unexpected addition - she is now carrying a new strain of rabies, which she propagates using a murderous addendum, that pops out from her armpit when sexually aroused, to impregnate her victims." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, “Rabid was digitally restored in High Definition by Lionsgate using materials supplied by the Toronto International Film Festival Group. All restoration work was performed at Technicolor in Toronto, Canada.

Color grading was done on a Lustre platform with care taken to maintain the original look of the film’s theatrical release. Picture clean-up was done using PF Clean and manual correction tools.

Opening and closing credits were adjusted to compensate for framing and care was taken to preserve the original font style of the film.”

Rabid comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 43.2 GB

Feature: 26.7 GB

The source used for this transfer is in excellent shape. Colors, image clarity and black levels are strong, and grain remains intact. It should be noted that this release presents Rabid in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, while David Cronenberg’s preferred aspect ratio is 1.66:1.

Audio: 4.25/5

This release comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in English, and included with this release are removable English SDH subtitles. The audio is in great shape; dialog comes through clearly, ambient sounds are well-represented, and range-wise it sounds robust when it should.

Extras:

Extras for this release include, a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 10 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an image gallery, an interview with executive producer Ivan Reitman titled Independent Spirit (12 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with producer Don Carmody titled Northern Exposure (15 minutes 37 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with make-up department Joe Blasco titled Joe Blasco Remembers (3 minutes 11 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with screenwriter/director David Cronenberg (20 minutes 35 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a featurette titled Raw, Rough and Rabid: The Lacerating Legacy of Cinépix (15 minutes 4 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a documentary from 1999 titled The Directors: David Cronenberg (59 minutes 4 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with with David Cronenberg, an audio commentary with William Beard, author of The Artist as Monster: The Cinema of David Cronenberg, and a forty-four page booklet with cast & crew credits, an essay titled Plastic Surgery Disaster: Rabid, the October Crisis and the Pathological Body Politic written by Kier-La Janisse, an extract from Cronenberg on Cronenberg titled A Biologically Correct Vampiress written by David Cronenberg, an interview with Marilyn Chambers by Calum Waddell, and information about the transfer. 

Included with this release is a DVD that has the same content as the Blu-Ray included as part of this combo release.

Summary:

Though David Cronenberg's debut film, Shivers, was very successful at the box office, It was also a film that garnered quite a bit of controversy, and because of this, it would be two years before he would make his follow-up film, Rabid.

At the time of Rabid's release, the casting of Marilyn Chambers (Behind the Green Door, Resurrection of Eve) may have seemed like an odd choice, considering her background in acting was limited to a few pornographic films. Fortunately, time can often be kind, and that decision to hire her as the protagonist looks like an inspired choice. And it is her lack of acting experience that ultimately makes her performance so mesmerizing. Unfortunately, when it comes to the rest of the cast, their performances are best described as adequate.

Though Rabid contains many of the themes that David Cronenberg explored in Shivers, the way in which they are presented is how these two films slightly differ. Where Rabid is given a much grander canvas to work from, Shivers is a more self-contained film that primarily takes place in one location. This is not simply a case of more equal betters, as Rabid is lacking the overwhelming feeling of claustrophobia that made Shivers utterly terrified.

That being said, there are elements in Rabid that don't gel as well as they did in Shivers. That is not to say that there is not plenty to admire about Rabid. One of the more fascinating aspects of Rabid is how David Cronenberg mutates the vampire mythos to suit his cinematic universe. And without a doubt, the most fascinating aspect of Rabid is how David Cronenberg uses the distance between characters to drive the mood, especially in regards to the protagonist and her boyfriend.

Rabid's most potent moment involves these two character’s as the protagonist calls her boyfriend to let him know that she has looked herself in a room with an infected person. She is doing this to prove to him that she was not the cause of the outbreak. And as this scene slowly builds, the tension builds to a fever pitch as the once confident protagonist shows fear in her voice as her demise closes in on her. Ultimately, Rabid is an extraordinary example of body horror.

Rabid gets a solid release from Arrow Video that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and an abundance of informative extras, recommended. 

Written by Michael Den Boer