Canadian production company Back 40 Pictures announced today that production has begun in the Greater Toronto area on the feature film Rabid. The film is a remake of the classic David Cronenberg 1977 horror feature film which was executive produced by Ivan Reitman.
The film is written and directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska (Dead Hooker in A Trunk, American Mary) and John Serge.
Rabid stars Laura Vandervoort (Jigsaw, BITTEN) as Rose a demure seamstress who goes through a radical transformation after electing for plastic surgery following a disfiguring accident. Ben Hollingsworth (Code Black) is Brad a fashion photographer.
Rabid also stars Hanneke Talbot (Playing Dead) who portrays Rose’s best friend Chelsea and Mackenzie Gray (Legion, Riverdale) as arrogant fashion designer Gunter. Rabid will also feature former WWE superstars CM Punk as Billy and his wife New York Times best-selling author AJ Mendez (fka AJ Lee) as Kira.
Drawing influence from the original movie, the remake is set in the seductive and glamorous world of high fashion and will follow Rose (Laura Vandervoort), a young woman whose disfigurement after an accident leads to a radical and untested stem-cell treatment. While turning Rose into the belle of the ball, the experimental transformation comes at a price.
“It’s a tremendous honor to be re-imagining David Cronenberg’s 1977 body horror classic, Rabid, with such incredible support behind us,” said Writer-Directors Jen and Sylvia Soska.
“We are not fans of the current trend of soulless remakes as they disrespect the fans and the original body of work. Our Rabid is a continuation of the thoughts and conversation David started, but modernized through a female perspective. The film will not only honor his original Rabid but also Cronenberg’s entire body of work. This would not have been possible without a team behind us that cares about the artist as well as the fans.”
“I don’t think there’s any bigger fans of David Cronenberg than the sisters, so it was really exciting when they agreed to helm this project. They will put their own stamp on the movie of course, but with nothing but the utmost respect to Cronenberg, and that’s important when you’re remaking a classic horror film like Rabid,” says producer Paul Lalonde.
“The Soska twins are the hottest young directors in the horror space right now, and our talented cast headed by Laura (Vandervoort) and Ben (Hollingsworth) will give horror fans a rich and chilling character-driven story with plenty of body horror,” Lalonde stated.
“We’ve got a fantastic cast, a great crew, top notch special effects and industry leading stunt coordinators. And having the whole story set against the backdrop of high fashion, that’s not only a great chance for some important social commentary, it’s also a really fun twist on horror. A peek inside the world of haute torture if you will.”
Stay tuned to the Soskas’ Twitter (@twisted_twins) for updates throughout filming of Rabid.
Writer’s Note: As a personal fan of both the Soskas’ and their films, I am looking forward to the remake of this Cronenberg classic. All you have to do is talk to them to know that they are the perfect choice to honor both the man and his film, and if you are unable to talk with them about it, you can take my word for it. You can give me any of the bashing on remakes that you want to give, because I guarantee that you will be eating those words when you see what they put together.
