Since twin troublemakers Jen and Sylvia Soska announced in early 2016 their intent to remake David Cronenberg’s Rabid we’ve heard little about the project. Out of the AFM though, comes the news that cameras are set to roll on the film sometime in 2018, with A71 Entertainment having nabbed the Canadian rights.
Cronenberg’s 1977 original followed Shivers in the iconic director’s remarkable early run of body-horror gems that also included The Brood (1979), Scanners (’81) and Videodrome (’83). It starred former porn starlet Marilyn Chambers as Rose, who develops a thirst for human blood after undergoing an experimental plastic surgery procedure following a motorcycle accident. As she infects her victims one by one, a city-wide epidemic spreads.
According to THR, “The remake will portray Rose, a young woman who, after an accident leaves her scarred beyond recognition, undergoes a radical untested stem cell treatment. While turning Rose into the belle of the ball, the experimental transformation comes at a price.”
While it was perhaps inevitable that the remake juggernaut would work its way to Cronenberg’s work, this one feels like something more personal than the hollow money-spinners that were keeping Hollywood’s accounts ticking over a decade ago. Earlier this year, Sylvia said: “Ten years into David’s filmmaking career, he remade The Fly and it brought him to this new level. This is ten years into our career and this will be our first film that gets a wide theatrical release…We just have to make sure we don’t let down our country, our fanbase, and our hero.”
Words: Kevan Farrow (@KevanX)
