Rabid

RABID-1977-While a woman named Rose (porn star Marilyn Chambers) is out riding a motorcycle with her boyfriend Hart (Frank Moore), they have a horrendous accident. She is badly burned but fortunately the accident happens right near a clinic where three doctors are working on a new type of plastic surgery. The head doctor (Howard Ryshpan) decides to use his new "radical plastic surgery" on her. A month later she awakens and craves blood because she now has some kind of deadly parasite in her body. She infects several people (2 doctors, a drunk, a woman in a jacuzzi) and soon there is an epidemic of blood thirsty crazy people who foam at the mouth and kill. The head doctor cuts off a nurse's finger during an operation and a woman goes nuts on the subway. Meanwhile, a clinic associate (Joe Silver) and Hart search for Rose who's running around Montreal infecting anyone she comes in contact with. The city is put under martial law and everyone panics. Even a mall Santa Claus gets shot! This movie has it's moments but the Hart's enraged crying scene in the climax really ruins it.

David Cronenberg made this 2 years after the similar THEY CAME FROM WITHIN (which also featured Silver). Like that film RABID  contains strange characters and situations. Perhaps the strangest of all is the casting of Chambers as Rose. Her acting isn't bad. In fact she's a better actor than Frank Moore who portrays her boyfriend! Cronenberg's first choice for Hthe role of Rose was Sissy Spacek. Howard Reitman was an executive producer.

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Well Shivers My Timbers!

SHIVERS (THE CAME FROM WITHIN)-1975-David Cronenberg's first feature is about medical transplants using a parasite as a substitute. It's very talking, badly acted, ineptly directed and unintentionally funny. All the characters seem creepy and/or deranged.

After a scientist kills a woman and burns her with acid, Dr. Roger St. Luc (Paul Hampton, a TV actor and musician) investigates the murder and discovers the scientist's weird experiments. His nurse is played by Lynn Lowry (from THE CRAZIES, which this seems influenced by) who has a nude scene. Most of it takes place in a trendy high rise apartment building. The parasite infects its victims and sends them into bizarre sexual frenzies. ("I'm hungry for love" proclaims an infected fat woman)

Barbara Steele (she was in CAGED HEAT the same year) gets infected while taking a bath and seduces a female neighbor. Another TV actor Joe Silver (also in Cronenberg's RABID) has the bloodiest death.

Well Cronenberg certainly got better!

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Resurrection

RESURRECTION-1999-This SEVEN inspired serial killer movie is about a maniac who’s collecting the body parts of his victim’s to recreate the body of Christ. Christopher Lambert stars as John Prudhomme a faith challenged Cajun cop (probably to explain the actor’s accent) in Chicago (which is obviously Toronto) hunting the killer. Leland Orser is his partner. Robert Joy (CITY OF THE DEAD) is a CIA agent who helps out. Director David Cronenberg (the same year he made eXistenZ) shows up for a couple of scenes.

Much of the movie seems to be a soapbox for Lambert’s emoting and goes out of it’s way to be extremely gory (the cops are always 5 minutes late). The worse part is it’s way too long! The director Russell Mulcahy directed RAZORBACK, THE SHADOW and HIGHLANDER 2:THE QUICKENING (also with Lambert) then went into rock videos, TV episodes and some TV movies before making this. He later made RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION and THE SCORPION KING 2.
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