At this point, the limiting factor for "Rabid" is that it heavily hinges itself on the Covid19 pandemic. Most of the stories in this anthology were based on experiences all of us encountered being stuck at home from early 2020 to late 2021. But its already 2022 and while things haven't gotten back to normal, we're at a point that anything about the past two years is extremely tiresome, hassle, and dare we say dated to rethread. Aside from that though, "Rabid" is actually competent as an anthology film and featured interesting takes that could flourished without its pandemic baggage.
Four stories that feature the anxiety, fear, stress, and uncertainty of everyday life. The first story features a well-off family who decides to help and take in a stranger asking for help. Can there good-naturedness actually bring in bad luck? The second story features a mom who has struggled to get a job after being laid off. Desperate, she tries to cook and sell kare-kare without much look. But when she stumbles upon a "secret ingredient" recipe, her luck changes as her kare-kare becomes a sensation and brings her high praise - but at what cost? The third story features a young couple with the husband trying to cure his sick wife. But when his attempts do not treat her, is he willing to risk everything to bring her back? The final and fourth story features a nurse who isn't happy with her job. But when a patient from Room 207 beckons her, she finds herself trapped and unable to escape her calls.
If you're familiar with "The Twilight Zone", the stories that are within "Rabid" were vaguely familiar to the episodes you will find in the classic scifi horror series. Meaning that the stories within "Rabid" aren't really scary in the traditional sense of a horror film but will leave you creeped out with its shock and twists. We already mentioned that one of the biggest issues for us that in early 2022, "Rabid" felt dated. Things like being stuck at home and selling online are things that were impactful and emotional two years ago but for us, these aren't as relevant now. What we're trying to say is that the film could have worked without a heavy reliance on the Covid19 pandemic especially on its first and fourth stories. Another thing that really annoyed us was that most of the stories showed potential but lacked polish. We felt that most of these stories were designed to shock but didn't have any moral values or lasting messages. As expected, some really stood out with the last and second stories being the best of the bunch, the first story having the best production, and the third story coming off as unnecessary fluff to extend the film's running time. Overall though, "Rabid" wasn't all that bad. We loved the film's cinematography and the film's overall theme.
Rating: 3 reels
Why you should watch it:
- while the stories needed refinement, they were interesting to say the least
- we enjoyed the direction of Erik Matti here
Why you shouldn't watch it:
- feels dated and tiresome as it heavily relies on topics that are so 2020
- not really scary if you're watching this as a horror experience
Rabid Movie Review: A competent anthology that's unfortunately stuck in 2020
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