Rabid

 Rabid

The Soska Sisters remake 'Rabid,' David Cronenberg's 1977 cult horror film about a young woman who develops a thirst for blood after undergoing unconventional surgery.

It took no small amount of guts for Jen and Sylvia Soska to remake a David Cronenberg film, the first such effort ever attempted, even if the master horror director’s 1977 Rabid isn’t one of his best. The identical twin filmmakers, who are credited under the moniker “The Soska Sisters,” would seem well suited for the task, based on their distinctive oeuvre which includes such grindhouse movies as American Mary, Dead Hooker in a Trunk and See No Evil 2. Unfortunately, their reimagining of Cronenberg’s film, although it has some imaginative touches, can most generously be described as an affectionate homage.

In the role that marked porn star Marilyn Chambers’ legit feature debut, Laura Vandervoort (Smallville, Jigsaw) plays Rose, an aspiring fashion designer struggling to earn the respect of her boss Gunter (Mackenzie Gray, so over the top that he makes Sacha Baron Cohen’s Brüno seem subtle by comparison). A wallflower bearing a small facial scar from a long-ago car accident, Rose reluctantly lets her friend Chelsea (Hanneke Talbot, Ready or Not) set up her up on a date with a fellow co-worker.