The Cronenberg Chronicles proper will return before too long with a look at perhaps the biggest anomaly in his oeuvre- according to some, that is. I'm not so sure, as you will see in my review of his next effort, Fast Company. In the meantime, I had a look at the first remake of Cronenberg's work...
There are several different kinds of remakes. There are those that do little else beyond remaking a film for a modern audience with a bigger budget, higher production values and, in some cases, seeking little more than to colorize a black & white film- looking at you, Gus Van Sant's Psycho.
Other examples include Tom Savini's Night of the Living Dead (which does at least tweak the material a bit), The Omen, Carrie, Red Dragon (a remake of the far superior Manhunter), Planet of the Apes (the Tim Burton one- I liked the other, more recent ones) and The Vanishing, which may be the worst of the lot, as it tacks on a happy ending... and it's by the same director as the original, who should have known better. (Ditto Funny Games, though the director didn't change the ending, at least.)
Another kind of remake tacks on a huge amount of exposition, explaining everything to death where the original trusted the viewer to fill in the blanks themselves, or they change stuff to such an extent that it barely has any resemblance to the original, making it a huge betrayal to fans. These latter kinds are especially egregious because they show how cynical Hollywood can be- let's just slap an old title on a new film that doesn't have anything to do with the original so that we can guarantee some butts in those seats.
These types may actually be the worst type of remake, IMHO. We're talking stuff like The Mummy (particularly the Tom Cruise one), Prom Night (the only thing it shares with the original is the title- they should have called it Killer Prom or something like that), Total Recall, The Stepford Wives, The Wicker Man, Poltergeist, The Fog, Black Christmas (both of 'em, really, but especially the second one) and yes, Rob Zombie's Halloween, which I realize has its fans because it "explains things better." 😒 (So not the point.)
Finally, we have the best of the bunch, those that are basically true to the spirit of the original, while the directors and writers distinctly make it their own by tweaking the material in interesting ways. These include the gold standard of remakes: John Carpenter's The Thing, and, of course, Cronenberg's The Fly. Others worth a mention include Dawn of the Dead, The Ring, The Grudge, My Bloody Valentine and Let Me In, a clever remake of Let the Right One In.
With the Soska Sisters' Rabid, we have a sort of splinter kind of remake. It's in some ways a straight-forward remake that essentially stays true to the material at hand, but it's definitely tweaked for modern audiences, and it also takes a different approach to the material and sets it against an entirely different backdrop. What's more, it seems to be set in what we'll call "Cronenberg World" (after the infamous Rick & Morty episode- see here for sample), in which elements of the director's other work seem to be present, which is a neat gambit.
This latter approach isn't entirely unprecedented. For instance, Stephen King did it with his Castle Rock stories, which constantly refer back to not just other stories set in the much-plagued town, but many of his other stories and novels as well, which was also an approach taken with the show of the same name. Still, while Castle Rock does it much more overtly, the Rabid remake tends to do it a little more subtly.
For instance, we see in the doctor's photograph that his wife is played by Lynn Lowry, of Shivers fame. She's not in the film, per se, mind you, but it's a nice shout-out. More overtly, the doctor's name is William Burroughs, which should be a familiar name to Cronenberg fans, or cult lit fans in general. At one point, we also hear him listening to a recording about vampires featuring a voice that sounds an awful lot like the famed author. Note also that the Burroughs' clinic features a beetle as its logo (as seen above), another shout-out to The Naked Lunch.
The Soska Sisters themselves play Bev and Ellie, a nod to the doctor twins of the same names in Dead Ringers. (The Soskas are identical twins themselves, for those who didn't know, as seen in the picture above.) In addition, during Rose's operation, the surgeons and their assistants all dress in red, another reference to that film. There's even an extended reference to "transhumanism," which figures considerably into much of Cronenberg's early work.
Finally, the tag line for the original Rabid is used as dialogue at one point, and there's a Santa Claus character that crops up and reference to a subway attack, clear nods to the original. Also, the hot tub scene from the original becomes a pool scene in the remake, with a gender flip, as the victim is a male, not a female. I'm sure there's even more Cronenberg references where that came from, but you get the idea.
All of this sort of window dressing is entertaining for fans and shows that the Soskas know their Cronenberg inside and out, which is a good thing. This could have easily been a pure cash-in, but it's nothing if not reverential to the original, without simply being a carbon copy. But is it any good as its own film? Let's take a closer look.
The basic set-up is the same: a young woman, Rose (Laura Vandervoort) gets into a motorcycle accident- okay, it's technically a scooter, but you know what I mean- which almost kills her and leaves her seemingly permanently disfigured. Then an ambitious plastic surgeon steps in and "fixes" her, but with disastrous results that end up basically kick starting a modern-day rabies-style plague with alarmingly rapid results.
However, the details are quite different. Here, Rose is a much put-upon assistant to a vain, demanding fashion mogul, Gunter (Mackenzie Gray, of Grave Encounters and TV's Legion), who is in the process of designing his new line of clothes for a show with the theme of- lol- schadenfreude. For those not in the know, that means taking joy in the misery of others, which is a German word, because of course it is. To prove his point, he calls out Rose for being late early on, and makes fun of her, resulting in everyone laughing at her.
Here, Rose is a nerdy wallflower, which, of course, means she's an obviously gorgeous girl with glasses on to "conceal" her beauty, Hollywood style. Although, Cronenberg die-hards will be happy to know the film was, as it should be, shot in Canada. (The Soskas are indeed Canadian themselves, BTW.) Still, in typical movie fashion- no pun intended, given the subject matter- we're meant to think Rose isn't the hottie she clearly is, at least early on.
How dorky are we talking? She's clumsy, always running late, and she's useless with finding a man, to the extent her model friend, Chelsea (Hanneke Talbot, Ready or Not) has to ask someone to hit on her. That someone is Brad (Ben Hollingsworth, Joy Ride 3, Cold Pursuit), a fashion photographer who also models for cash on the side, but doesn't take it at all seriously and indeed, looks down on it. This makes things a bit awkward when Rose admits she wants to be a fashion designer herself, needless to say.
But not half as awkward as it does when she overhears some mean girl types (the Soskas themselves, in fact) talking smack about her in the bathroom, including the fact that Chelsea was the one who asked Brad to try and pick her up. Upset, she storms out, after confronting Chelsea, and promptly gets into an accident.
After her attending physician, Dr. Keloid (genre stalwart Stephen McHattie, in what is basically just a cameo) tells her she's basically beyond his help, he refers her to a colleague of his, Dr. Burroughs (Ted Atherton), a plastic surgeon that specializes in "lost causes" and outside-the-box thinking, to say the least.
Though dubious at first, especially when he offers to operate on her for free, in exchange for some blood samples and the ability to keep tabs on her recovery process, Rose, horrified by her "monster"-like appearance, begrudgingly agrees, because look at the alternative.
At first, all is well, and Rose actually has a newfound confidence in herself that allows her to stand up for herself more and become Gunter's right-hand woman in his upcoming show. In Hollywood terms, it's basically the ultimate makeover: from nottie to hottie. Not that she wasn't perfectly fine before- indeed, when the mean girls mentioned she had a scar before the accident, I hadn't even noticed it.
However, as there always is with these things, there's a catch. She has to drink these concoctions made by the doctor that are suspiciously blood-like, and take these pills which can cause "vivid hallucinations," which is just what you want when you're trying to fit in with the in crowd.
Rose also finds herself unable to keep down food, and often ends up convulsing on the floor or needing to throw up at inopportune times, which isn't exactly a plus, either. Last but not least, she keeps having crazy dreams in which she attacks people and drinks their blood. But are they really dreams?
I don't think it's a spoiler to reveal that they are not, and that the people she attacks end up infected themselves and go on to spread the virus she has to others, who, unlike Rose, end up frothing at the mouth and going completely crazy, violently assaulting anyone with the misfortune to cross their paths at the time the virus takes hold.
Eventually, the military gets involved in tamping down the threat, as the virus spreads all over the city, but the Soskas aren't particularly interested in this aspect of the plot, instead keeping the focus almost entirely on Rose, for better or worse, and, to a certain extent, the people she interacts with.
As such, even more so than the original film, we don't really get a sense of how the powers that be really wrangle things back into their control before things really get out of hand in earnest, beyond the fact that people with guns are sent out to simply shoot down any troublemakers that go nuts and try to kill people.
Because of this, the Soskas' version of Rabid doesn't quite rise to the level of the original, in terms of being eerily prescient of current events, though there are a few moments in which you can't help think of them, such as when Gunter, after a reporter asks him if putting on a fashion show in the middle of a pandemic panic is a wise idea, replies that it is "nothing, just a glorified head cold," which reminds one of El Trumpo's downplaying the virus, which we now know was a total act- he knew all along it was a major threat.
That said, though, that wasn't the type of movie the Soskas wanted to make, obviously, which is to say, something more political. Here, their focus is clearly on Rose and her travails, and we only get a little bit of an outside perspective otherwise, and most of it is simply to move the plot along.
On the plus side, this lends the film a much more pronounced female perspective than even Cronenberg's original. In his version, we only got to know Rose after the accident- here, we get a sense of who she was both before and who she becomes after it.
There are also some great meta-style jabs at Hollywood- an actor is one of the first ones infected and he brings it to the set of a soap opera where his jealousy of others becomes even more pronounced than it was before- and at toxic masculinity- another victim (Phillip Jack Brooks, aka wrestler C.M. Punk) is even worse than the actor character, in terms of being a misogynistic asshole- and, of course, they take square aim at the fashion industry.
In the end, the film sort of plays like The Neon Demon, but as directed by someone like Stuart Gordon or Brian Yuzna, instead of the tempered, arthouse approach taken by Nicolas Winding Refn. As with Demon, it falls apart a bit at the end, devolving into a mish-mash of gory, but not necessarily scary special effects, some of which are more silly than gruesome- in particular what's behind door number one at the film's climax, which I'll allow you to see for yourself. There's also some out-of-place sequences, one of which plays like a rejected Marilyn Manson music video.
Don't get me wrong, these things don't necessarily ruin the film altogether- indeed, for a while, I thought this might well end up being the Soskas' best film to date. Ultimately, I'd have to stick with American Mary as their best, even though it also has some problems, especially with the ending. It's kind of appropriate that I brought up Stephen King earlier on in the article, as, like the Master of Horror himself, the Soskas sometimes have a bit of trouble sticking the landing.
The creativity and intelligence are there, and I like that they typically have a pronounced female voice in their films, but they have a tendency to lean on the gross-out when they don't quite know where to take things next. Not that I mind a good special effect, but one thing they need to take better notes on when it comes to Cronenberg- always back up the gore with a smart POV, not just when it comes to the characters, as is well-done here, but the overall plotting department.
Though a little pokey here and there, the first 2/3rds of the film are very well done, thanks to the strong anchors of Vandervoot and Atherton's respective characters. You probably know the former for her various genre TV efforts, including Smallville, Supergirl, Haven (another King-centric project set in his "universe"), Bitten, the V reboot and the movie Jigsaw, while Atherton was in the miniseries remake of The Andromeda Strain and the sci-fi series The Expanse.
Both are great, but the movie fails them a bit, especially in the end, though the last scene isn't too bad- it's the climax that doesn't quite work overall. I like that the last scene doesn't offer any easy answers- just how far would you go for outer beauty? And would it be worth the ultimate sacrifice you made for it, given the overall outcome? After all, it's basically Rose's vanity that gets her into trouble, though who could really blame her, given what she sees in the mirror after her accident? But is looking hot for a short while worth it if you cause a new plague? Or end up hurting everyone you care for?
These are all intriguing and worthwhile questions, and more power to the Soska Sisters for tackling them head-on. Their Rabid isn't a bad film overall, in spite of its faults. It certainly goes out of its way to honor Cronenberg's overall aesthetic and tries, in its own way, to rise to the level of intelligence of their predecessor, and, in some ways, even surpasses the original in some areas.
The cinematography, for instance- by Kim Derko, who also worked on Romero's Land of the Dead- is infinitely better than the original film. And overall, the FX are better than Joe Blasco's in the original- special effects have come a long way since the 70's, obviously.
But yeah, overall, less would have been more, at least in terms of the "body horror"-type stuff, hence my comparison to the likes of Gordon and Yuzna. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of both: I love the Re-Animator series and From Beyond and Society is something to see, let me tell you. Talk about crazy endings!
But those are different sorts of films than Cronenberg's work. The gore in his films is a means to an end- they get your attention, sure, but it's always in the service of bringing it to the table to discuss what his films are really about, things like scientists and doctors gone amok, the dark side of human behavior and sexuality and so on and so forth. Like the plot here, the over-the-top effects seem grafted onto things they have no business being melded to in the first place.
The sad thing is, the bones of something great are clearly in place here. If anything, it comes off as a much more coherent and less surreal version of The Neon Demon, which might not have been a bad thing if the Soskas had followed it through to a more logical conclusion. But like that film, which fell apart at the end as well, the Soskas just didn't quite nail it- it's definitely a case of close, but no cigar.
At least some of the blame has to go to co-writer John Serge, who came up with the main storyline, with the Soskas co-writing the actual script. Serge is better-known for writing TV-Movies in the Lifetime mold, stuff like Killer Mom, A Sister's Revenge and Killer Crush (that one has Daveigh Chase, of The Ring and Donnie Darko fame- but do NOT doubt her commitment to Sparkle Motion!). This is definitely a step up from that kind of work, but I just wish they all hadn't gone a little bonkers at the end. It may well be all the Soskas' doing, but whatever the case, the climax just doesn't work.
Overall, though, it's a noble effort, and hardly an embarrassment, so I can't fault them too much. Aside from the ending, it's all very watchable, and relatively involving. I like the cast, the look of the film, and some of the special effects, especially in the attack scenes, are pretty effective. It's just when things go a little too over the top that the film falls apart, which is too bad, because I really dig the Soska vibe and I want to see them knock one out of the park. Maybe next time.
It would certainly be interesting to see what Cronenberg thought of the film- I couldn't find anything one way or another online- but all things considered, it could have been a lot worse. But it also could have been a lot better, too. Oh well.
Join me next time for the often unfairly overlooked Fast Company, considered by many to be the biggest anomaly in the Cronenberg filmography. But is it, really? We shall see. Until then, thanks for reading, and see you next time! 😉
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