Rabid (1977) ***

Clearly the work of a young director still finding their footing, David Cronenberg's Rabid (1977) nonetheless offers a good deal to appreciate. I do prefer Shivers (1975) [review] though, as far as his post-student films prior to The Brood (1979) [review] (where he really hit his stride) go. 

Rabid's score is moody, consisting of library songs (the same approach that George A. Romero took with Dawn Of The Dead (1978) [review]), some of which are great and some of which are a bit too on the nose. The effects are crude and lacking, and the performances can be a touch melodramatic at times, but there is a definite charm to the low budget genre nature of Rabid. 

This was the first time I had watched the film since the COVID-19 pandemic and there were interesting parallels to observe. Speaking of Romero, I had never realized before how much Rabid has in common with The Crazies (1973) [review] (that film of course lacking the sexual element present here).

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