Rabid: Collector's Edition – Shout! Factory (UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

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

Release Date: December 16th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 91 Minutes 16 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / HDR10 Dolby Vision
Rating: R
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region A (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: $39.99

"A young woman develops a taste for human blood after undergoing experimental plastic surgery, and her victims turn into rabid, bloodthirsty zombies who proceed to infect others, which turns into a city-wide epidemic.?" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD), 4.5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "4K Scan from the Original Camera Negative."

Rabid comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 65.3 GB

Feature: 65 GB

The source is in excellent shape; flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image retains an organic look.

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

Disc Size: 45.1 GB

Feature: 33.5 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English with removable English SDH. The audio is in excellent shape, free of any hiss or distortion; dialogue always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well represented.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an audio commentary with director David Cronenberg, an audio commentary with William Beard, author of The Artist As Monster: The Cinema of David Cronenberg, and an audio commentary with Jill C. Nelson, author of Golden Goddesses: 25 Legendary Women of Classic Erotic Cinema and Marilyn Chambers' personal appearances manager Ken Leicht.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include an image gallery (stills/posters), three radio spots (1 minute 38 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles), a TV spot (32 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles), a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 9 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles), a video essay by Caelum Vatnsdal, author of They Came from Within: A History of Canadian Horror Cinema titled From Stereo to Video (26 minutes 23 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with producer Don Carmody titled Northern Exposure (15 minutes 37 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with executive producer Ivan Reitman titled Independent Spirit (12 minutes 28 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with David Cronenberg (20 minutes 36 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actress Susan Roman titled Young and Rabid (33 minutes 5 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Violet Lucca, author of David Cronenberg: Clinical Trials titled Inside Rabid (12 minutes 18 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Canadian film historian and author Paul Corupe titled Becoming Cronenberg (19 minutes 34 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with David Cronenberg, an audio commentary with William Beard, and an audio commentary with Jill C. Nelson.

Other extras include a slipcover (limited to the first pressing).

Summary:

An experimental plastic surgery is the only hope for saving a woman who has narrowly survived a devastating motorcycle crash. Will she make a full recovery or will there be side effects due to the surgery?

Although 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.

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. While Rabid presents itself on a much grander canvas, Shivers contains itself more as a film that primarily unfolds in a single location. This distinction is not merely about the scale of production; Rabid lacks the intense claustrophobia that made Shivers profoundly terrifying.

That 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. The most fascinating aspect of Rabid is how David Cronenberg uses the distance between characters to drive the mood, especially when it comes to the protagonist and her boyfriend.

Rabid's most potent moment involves these two characters as the protagonist calls her boyfriend to let him know that she has locked herself in a room with an infected person. She is doing this to demonstrate to him that she is not responsible for the outbreak. As the scene unfolds, the tension reaches an intense level, exposing the fear of the once-confident protagonist as her impending demise draws nearer. Ultimately, Rabid is an extraordinary example of body horror.

Shout Factory gives Rabid its best home media release to date. Highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer