Rabid (1977)

I didn't sit down to watch David Cronenberg's early body shock horror and expect to find it resonating so pertinently to this day and age. Cronenberg doesn't like to faff, his early films all tend to be around the 90 minute mark, and Rabid gets straight to the point. A motorcyclist is injured in an accident and is taken to a nearby experimental plastic surgery practice where Dr. Dan Keloid saves her life, but in doing so releases a side effect; a phallic bloodsucking appendage in her arm. Her subsequent victims are turned into blood thirsty zombies, and the 'disease' spreads before it can be contained, leading to scenes later in the film of citizens having to produce vaccine I.D's before they can visit shops. Sound eerily familiar? Rabid shares a lot of DNA with Shivers, Cronenberg's film from two years earlier, and is every bit as enjoyable. While Shivers was confined to a tower block, Rabid allows the expanse of a disease into natures' surroundings, and when Cronenberg is let loose, all hell escapes. Rabid is terrific, and is yet another example of Cronenberg's early brilliance. 7.7/10