Rabid

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Rabid

Theatrical poster
Directed by David Cronenberg
Produced by John Dunning
Written by David Cronenberg
Starring Marilyn Chambers
Frank Moore
Joe Silver
Howard Ryshpan
Patricia Case
Susan Roman
Cinematography René Verzier
Editing by Jean LaFleur
Distributed by Cinépix Film Properties Inc.,
New World Pictures
Release date(s) April 8, 1977
Running time 91 min.
Country Canada
Language English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Rabid is a 1977 horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg. Marilyn Chambers stars, with Frank Moore, Howard Ryshpan, Joe Silver and Robert A. Silverman, who would go on to become a regular Cronenberg actor, appearing in The Brood, Scanners, Naked Lunch and eXistenZ.

Cronenberg has stated that he originally wanted to cast Sissy Spacek in the lead, but the studio vetoed this because of her accent. Ironically enough, Spacek's film Carrie was released and proved to be a massive hit during this film's production. The director says that the idea of casting Chambers originated with producer Ivan Reitman, because he had heard that Chambers was looking for a mainstream role and because he felt that it would be easier to market the film in different territories if the well-known porn star portrayed the main character.

[edit] Plot summary

A critically-injured woman victim of a motorcycle accident is taken to the plastic surgery clinic of Doctor Dan Keloid, where some of her intact tissue is treated to become "morphogenetically neutral" and grafted to fire-damaged areas of her body in the hope that they will differentiate and replace the damaged skin and organs.

Unfortunately, the woman's body unexpectedly accepts the transplants: she develops an anal orifice under an armpit, within it hides a phallic stinger. She uses it to feed on the blood of other people, and afterwards wiping their memories of their incidents with her.

It soon is apparent that her every victim transforms to a rabid zombie whose bite spreads the disease, eventually causing the city to fall into chaos before the outbreak can be contained.

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