This film is currently unavailable
Rabid
David Cronenberg’s classic outbreak horror introduces us to a young woman (Marilyn Chambers) who hungers for human blood after an experimental plastic surgery goes wrong.
Director: David Cronenberg
Overview
David Cronenberg’s preoccupation with the notion of 'body horror' is developed further in this early cult favourite from the acclaimed filmmaker. After a motorcycle crash, Rose (Marilyn Chambers) receives some experimental plastic surgery with the unfortunate side effect that she awakens with a hunger for human blood. Her bloodlust kickstarts a terrifying epidemic, as each person she infects transforms into a crazed, homicidal zombie. Things quickly spiral out of control - with gruesome consequences. Continuing the body-horror trajectory Cronenberg initiated in his earlier Shivers (1975) , Rabid is both a horrifying allegory and a frenzied thrill-ride.
An important example of cult Canadian cinema as much as an auteur-driven genre film, Rabid finds Cronenberg developing his ideas around horrors that come from within, and is prime example of the director's signature fusion of decay, dread, and terror.
strong bloody violence, gore
Related
The Descent The Descent
Horror 2005 99 mins Director: Neil Marshall
Six friends on a caving expedition get trapped deep underground and discover they are not alone in this visceral, claustrophobic horror.
Laurin Laurin
Horror 1989 83 mins Director: Robert Sigl
Richly atmospheric, gloriously morbid and menacing Gothic chiller about a child killer in 19th century Germany.
The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue
Horror 1974 93 mins Director: Jorge Grau
A chemical leak causes a zombie outbreak amid the picturesque landscapes of the Lake District, in this superbly chilling undead classic.
Swallowed Swallowed
Horror 2022 95 mins Director: Carter Smith
It’s drugs, bugs and unrequited hugs in this deliciously grotesque queer body horror from Carter Smith.
It Follows It Follows
Horror 2014 100 mins Director: David Robert Mitchell
David Robert Mitchell’s remarkable, terrifying shocker is a fresh and stimulating meditation on sexual paranoia, steeped in horror cinema history.
A Lizard in a Woman's Skin A Lizard in a Woman's Skin
Horror 1971 103 mins Director: Lucio Fulci
A woman accused of murder begins to lose grip on reality, in this psychedelic, Swinging London thriller from cult director Lucio Fulci (The Beyond).
Nosferatu Nosferatu
Horror 1922 89 mins Silent Director: F.W. Murnau
This influential Dracula adaptation contains some of the most famous images of expressionist film, and remains shocking and stylish after 100 years.
The Blood on Satan's Claw The Blood on Satan's Claw
Horror 1971 96 mins Director: Piers Haggard
Depraved sexual practices and satanic violence envelop a remote country village in this exciting period horror.
Pontypool Pontypool
Horror 2008 93 mins Director: Bruce McDonald
Don't say it! The wrong word starts turning people into zombies in this lo-fi Canadian horror.
A Dark Song A Dark Song
Horror 2016 100 mins Director: Liam Gavin
Steve Oram and Catherine Walker excel in this occult chamber piece about a grieving mother attempting to contact her deceased child.
Häxan Häxan
Horror 1922 106 mins Silent Director: Benjamin Christensen
Benjamin Christensen’s disorienting and wildly inventive 1922 doc/fiction hybrid charts the history of ancient sorcery and demonology.
Dead of Night (aka Deathdream) Dead of Night (aka Deathdream)
Drama 1978 88 mins Director: Bob Clark
A soldier killed in the Vietnam War returns home on the night of his death in Bob Clark’s deft blend of searing political allegory and wicked grindhouse thrills.
Crash Crash
Drama 1996 100 mins Director: David Cronenberg
Technology and sexuality meet in head-on collision in David Cronenberg’s controversial adaptation of writer J.G. Ballard’s transgressive 1973 novel.
Pharaoh Pharaoh
Historical drama 1965 146 mins Director: Jerzy Kawalerowicz
Dazzling epic, in which the young Pharaoh Ramses XIII clashes with Egypt's clergy over influence on the affairs of the state and its coffers.
Desire: The Carl Craig Story Desire: The Carl Craig Story
Documentary 2024 91 mins Director: Jean-Cosme Delaloye
An intimate portrait of legendary techno producer, DJ and record label creator Carl Craig and an ode to his beloved city, Detroit.
Je t'aime, je t'aime Je t'aime, je t'aime
Drama 1968 95 mins Director: Alain Resnais
A mysterious time-travel experiment becomes a warped voyage through memory, in this mesmerising sci-fi from acclaimed director Alain Resnais.
La Reine Margot La Reine Margot
Historical drama 1994 158 mins Director: Patrice Chéreau
Sumptuous historical drama starring Isabelle Adjani and Daniel Auteuil; a thunderous yarn full of dastardly plots, familial hatred and perverse desire
Scrubbers Scrubbers
Drama 1982 93 mins Director: Mai Zetterling
1980s borstal drama – billed as the female Scum – featuring Amanda York and Kathy Burke as inmates in a ruthless women’s prison.
Mona Lisa Mona Lisa
Gangster 1986 100 mins Director: Neil Jordan
An ungainly cockney chauffeur navigates the seedy streets of London, gradually falling for the elegant and mysterious prostitute who is his passenger.