I watched the Rabid remake knowing that I'll check out the original as soon as the new 4K release drops, so this is very much a "first impression" review. And honestly, the movie has a pretty unique vibe itself, I recon. There's something interesting about seeing a story set in "America," but made outside of it. You get this slightly off feeling-not in a bad way, more like an alternate version of what the U.S. looks and feels like. I always find that kind of fun to watch. Visually, this movie is really cool. The colors, the lighting, the atmosphere in general. it has that stylish, semi-surreal thing going on, which clicked with me immediately. Admittedly, at times, it feels a little low-budget around the edges, but for me, that wasn't a problem-more like a part of its identity. You can tell the filmmakers wanted a weirdness of a certain kind. There are also these little nods and references throughout, like the red dresses, which instantly made me think of Dead Ringers, or Silent Hill-Nurses, moments in general, that gave the whole thing a nice extra layer. Storywise, I had more problems with it. Not because the story itself is bad, but because of how it's told. A lot of the characters feel pretty on-the-nose. You can tell immediately who they're supposed to be and what role they play, and the movie doesn't really let you discover that on your own. It keeps pointing at things and saying "this is like this and this happens now" instead of trusting the audience to follow. For me, that just made everything a bit predictable. And then it eventually tips into a level of craziness that didn't quite match the tone I enjoyed in the beginning. It's not that I don't like weird — I do — but here it felt a bit rushed and not fully explored. Some developments just appear out of nowhere, without the buildup they needed to really land. I think this movie could have been even stronger if it had taken a little more time to let the transformation part breathe instead of going straight from A to Z. It's not that I had a bad time with it, though. The style, atmosphere, and little creative touches make it entertaining to watch, and you can tell the filmmakers actually care about what they were making. It doesn't fully come together for me, but it's interesting enough that I'm definitely excited to see the original soon - and maybe I'll come back to this review afterwards and adjust a few things once I know where both films differ.

Apparently the idea to remake the pleasantly kitsch 1977 Cronenberg original was so bad it was contagious, because it infected the acting, directing and script of this resuscitation of direct-to-DVD.

“Now, where were we?” - Dr. William Burroughs Why the need to over explain the story and over build the characters! Watch the original and this back to back and you will see just how films today are destroying the art. :zany_face: :nauseated_face:

Well that was different...In a good way. I did enjoy it; it was weird, gory horror. The special effects team did well with the creatures and rabid people. The props in the background were creepy too. It had a strange story, there was no conclusions on what was going on. Just weird horrible things happening. Nevertheless, it was a decent enough horror film. It did it’s job in making us cringe in horror, so therefore it was successful in that manner. It’s worth watching, just don’t expect to really know what’s going on. Perhaps deliberate for a sequel. It was almost like the beginning of something without the end, hence my thoughts of a sequel. It’s not vampires, nor is it zombies; it like some weird combination with these and something new. The cast were great, they played their parts well. It didn’t follow the norm for films with a hero or happy ending, which is refreshing. Nearly 2hrs of kind of enjoyable weirdness lol.

I thought it started out decently, but then devolved a bit. The 2nd and 3rd act could have been a bit better, IMO. It was still decent enough to finish out, so it does have that going for it. There were quite a few places where the writing just seemed to fall down and the scenes seemed either rushed or very awkward, like they didn't know how people interact with each other in the real world. Practical effects were pretty good too. If someone asks for a recommendation, I'd steer them toward the Cronenberg original.