As a footnote, I should probably add that as soon as the Shivers issue came to light, I undertook a forensic examination of Arrow's Rabid master, and can confirm that it matches an uncut NTSC DVD frame for frame. It also includes two brief snippets of footage that were mysteriously missing from some European releases (notably the scene in the parking lot about two-thirds of the way through).Release Date: 2nd February 2015
Format: Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD
Starring: Marilyn Chambers, Frank Moore, Joe Silver
Directed by: David Cronenberg
Synopsis: PRAY IT DOESN’T HAPPEN TO YOU!
First come the Shivers… then, you turn RABID! Celebrated Canadian cult auteur David Cronenberg (The Fly, Videodrome) followed up Shivers with this tense and gory thriller which expands upon the venereal disease theme of that film, this time unleashing it on the whole of downtown Montreal – with terrifying consequences.
When beautiful Rose (adult film star Marilyn Chambers) is badly injured in a motorcycle crash, Dr. Keloid, who is in the process of developing a revolutionary new type of skin-graft, seizes the opportunity to test out his as yet unproven methods. The surgery appears successful and Rose seems restored to full health. But all is not as it should be – Rose has been transformed into a contagious blood-sucker, endowed with a bizarre, needle-like protrusion in her armpit with which she drains the blood from those unfortunate enough to be in her vicinity.
An important landmark in the early career of Cronenberg, Rabid sees the director returning to the viral theme of his earlier work but on a much larger (and more assured) scale – where the infection has shifted from the confines of a single apartment block to the expansive shopping centres and motorways of Canada’s second largest city.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
- Limited Edition SteelBook packaging
- New High Definition Digital Transfer
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of the feature
- Original mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio Commentary with writer-director David Cronenberg
- Audio Commentary with William Beard, author of The Artist as Monster: The Cinema of David Cronenberg
- Archive interview with David Cronenberg
- Brand new interview with executive producer Ivan Reitman
- Brand new interview with co-producer Don Carmody
- Make-up Memories: Joe Blasco Remembers Rabid – A short featurette in which Blasco recalls how the film’s various gruesome effects were achieved
- Raw, Rough and Rabid: The Lacerating Legacy of Cinépix – Featurette looking back at the early years of the celebrated Canadian production company, including interviews with author Kier-La Janisse and special makeup artist Joe Blasco
- The Directors: David Cronenberg – A 1999 documentary on the filmmaker, containing interviews with Cronenberg, Marilyn Chambers, Deborah Harry, Michael Ironside, Peter Weller and others
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Collector’s Booklet featuring new writing on the film by Kier-La Janisse, reprinted excerpts of Cronenberg on Cronenberg and more, illustrated with original archive stills and posters.
Rabid
Moderator: yoloswegmaster
- MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
- Contact:
Rabid
Full specs announced:
- manicsounds
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 10:58 pm
- Location: Tokyo, Japan
Re: Rabid
Good to know this will be uncut, unlike how Shivers turned out.
- matrixschmatrix
- Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 11:26 pm
Re: Rabid
Is the Beard commentary new? I don't think it's on the DVD I have, at least.
- Jean-Luc Garbo
- Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 1:55 am
- Contact:
Re: Rabid
Nice to see Kier-La Janisse as part of yet another Arrow release. I'm reading her book House of Psychotic Women right now and it's quite good.
- EddieLarkin
- Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2012 10:25 am
Re: Rabid
It can't just be because that's how it's supposed to look? The director himself was consulted on the restoration. He supervised Criterion's new transfers of The Brood and Scanners as well, which have a totally different look to Rabid (and Shivers, for that matter, which he was also involved in the restoration of).