Rabid 1977 VS Rabid 2019 Movies Where People Eat You

Remakes, reboots, reimaging. All are a source of contention for many cinephiles. I welcome most adaptions as a part of society’s need to keep the best stories alive. It’s been done from the dawn of time and there are just as many remakes worth their salt as not. The original Rabid film from 1977 was a movie I watched in anticipation of the remake. How can a movie about rabid humans be bad? Surrounding the film’s release was a bunch of controversies concerning the filmmakers. This time for their choice of poster art and the subsequent censoring of it.

Twitter had the Soska sisters’ Rabid poster art banned for their cover featuring the most grotesque still from the film. The masses were up in arms. Horror fans protested about the unfairness of selecting this particular image as something to deny the public. Why this image and not others? Whatever the case, reviews came in about the reworking of the story about a skin graft gone wrong and they weren’t glowing. I forgot about watching the new film and moved on to the next new and shiny thing.

Rabid Humans In Rabid Movies

In any case, given the current climate of new viruses being spread around the globe, I thought it was an appropriate time to revisit both movies. This is an interesting and vivid example of good virus stories.

What is the Rabid 1977 Movie About?

Both films essentially tell the same story. In Rabid 1977, a woman receives experimental surgery after a disfiguring accident. The treatment leaves her with a hunger for human blood. Rose finds she has also developed an additional way to get her hands on some of the best red stuff around. Anyone who’s been in close contact with Rose subsequently discovers they also have a new hunger for flesh.

There is no mistaking that the original story in Rabid 1977 is a pivotal story for many horror movies that came after it. If you ever wanted to see a science fiction film that marks everything you love about vampires, zombies, and mutation-type stories, this is a great one to add to your watchlist.

1977 Movie Reviewed

At the heart of both Rabid movies is a story set in a clinic for plastic surgery. In this original version, Rose is treated as an emergency case after a horrific accident that leaves her scarred and disfigured. The doctors execute an experimental treatment and Rose wakes up from her coma and bites the first nurse that comes to assist her. Her victims are treated to an amnesiac reaction to her hunger but almost immediately turn into flesh-eating crazed infected people.

The 1977 film is slow. It lacks the exciting pacing that the narrative seems intent on exploring. The thought of a strange form coming out of its host’s armpit is a weird choice in a film that wants to take itself more seriously than it does. If you’re unfamiliar with David Cronenberg’s work, Rabid is a great way to appreciate what this filmmaker was doing in the cinematic landscape long before it was cool. After Shivers, Rabid is Cronenberg’s third full-length feature film. Rabid is a perfect example of substance reigning over style if ever there was one. While this film is unmemorable on a technical point, the narrative certainly is not.

I give Rabid 1977

3 original ideas out of 5

2019 Movie From the Soska Sisters Reviewed

If you’re already familiar with the first film, sit back and simply enjoy and take in the difference between the two films. In the remake, you get a modernized setting and tone with additional Soska flair. What the Soska sisters do well with their version is to give the whole look and feel of the story a new coat of paint. Rabid 2019 is full of life most of the time.

Its lead character, played by Laura Vandervoort does an excellent transformation, turning from an ugly duckling into a ferocious swan. The twins are great at putting forth powerful female leads, similarly to American Mary, Rose is not a person to be messed with once she has her life-saving surgery.

Rabid 2019 is a Zombie Movie Remake

Here Rose is a wallflower in a fashion house. There is more emphasis in the Rabid 2019 narrative compared with the original about fashion and its place and influence on society. The cinematography is far more artistic. Sometimes it works, like in scenes where Rose walks down a darkened street in a fur coat. Other times, for me, it seemed far too over the top to be effective, such as during the initial operation in the hospital.

All the doctors and nurses are wearing red satin. There is a collage of dreamscape work and no talking. This scene was awful however I did get an overall feeling of the science fiction experimental alien influence from it despite it feeling disconnected otherwise. I loved what they did with the skin graft though.

Rose is a Wallflower – Rabies is a Virus

If you read the user reviews for Rabid 2019 on IMDB.com there is not a lot of positivity. I put off seeing this film for quite some time. While I appreciate the original movie, I was not overwhelmed by its championed greatness. Where a lot of Cronenberg’s fans were offended by the Soska sister’s reworking of the infected into literal zombies I was not that put off. I enjoyed the finale of the newer sample a lot.

Rabid 2019 is rated

3.5 armpit zombies out of 5

Whichever version of the Rabid movies you liked best, I don’t think either of them suffers from the other’s existence. If I was going to rewatch one of these, I’m in the minority, but it would be the Soska sisters’ film.