Modeling Gore: "Rabid" a middling redo that's effectively gross at least

Rabid (2019)

107 min.

Release Date: December 13, 2019 (Limited & VOD) 

Canadian-born twins Jen and Sylvia Soska (2014's "See No Evil 2") show their affection for another fellow Canadian by remaking David Cronenberg’s 1977 body-horror film “Rabid” with “Rabid.” “Why do we keep remaking old trends?” happens to be the first line of dialogue, and that’s a pretty fair question for the existence of this fleshy but middling redo. That isn’t to say the film doesn’t have anything going for it—the make-up is gnarly and suitably icky at times—and that the fashion industry isn't deserving of another skewering, but this "Rabid" just doesn’t leave as much of an impact as the Soska sisters intended. 

Laura Vandervoort (2017’s “Jigsaw”) sympathetically plays Rose, a meek vegetarian and fashion designer who gets into a moped accident that leaves her facially disfigured and feeling like a monster even after her jaw is reconstructed. After being treated with experimental stem-cell surgery and skin grafts by plastic surgeon Dr. William Burroughs (Ted Atherton), she wakes up, looking like a model. Of course, there are side effects: she has a higher libido, seducing random men; a tentacle growing out of her armpit; and a voracious appetite for blood. Before we know it, Rose is spreading around a contagion that turns the infected into zombie-ish monsters. “Rabid” is competently made and effectively squirm-inducing at least, but it disappoints by failing to get under your skin.

Grade: C