20/20 Filmsight - Film Criticism by David O'Connell

Self-proclaimed as Israel’s first 'slasher' film, the underwhelming Rabies proves to be just another corpse to pile upon an ever heightening stack of generically despatched victims. Written and directed by the duo of Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado, Rabies doesn’t even have the good sense to fleece ideas from superior genre films.

Remote woodland setting? Check. Potential psychopath on the loose? Check. Group of obnoxious characters about to innocently stumble upon the scene and sure to be picked off one by one? Check. Toss into the mix a cop who acts like a sexual predator, more random secondary characters and the needless murder of a dog to win audience sympathy and you have a mostly depressing concoction.

The prologue reveals a woman who has apparently fallen into an animal trap in the woods. Her brother runs off to find help, only to be struck by the car of a quartet of beautiful young things dressed in tennis clothes and obviously on their way to the most remote courts in the world.

Naturally the man is far from dead, rising from unconsciousness to tell a tale of his sister’s inability to extract herself from the hole. The two young studs agree to retrace his steps into the woods whilst the girls stay behind to alert the police. Elsewhere, in a nearby location, a couple with a dog are separated as well, only to be drawn into the unfolding drama.

Rabies (2010), despite splatterings of gore, is a dead bore from beginning to end. The characters are nothing less than cardboard cut-outs, the acting passable at best, and the dialogue generally trite. The directors have obviously learnt nothing of interest from their American counterparts – or perhaps, I should say, they’ve learnt too much? For it's not long before they’ve contrived ridiculous reasons for their dull collection of whining pawns to fracture and head off into the woods in pairs or alone.

We have a good idea what’s ahead, and no amount of twists - adorned with allegorical intent though they may be - can soften the blow as the inevitable set-pieces take centre stage. A couple are kind of neatly handled - almost in a Final Destination sort of way - but the dodgy acting and ludicrousness of some of the characters' behaviour undermine them. Only the elimination of the actual serial killer factor - replaced by veiled social commentary on the horrors we inflict upon one another - can save Rabies from the abyss of complete anonymity.

One scene in particular – in which the renegade cop performs a body search on the gorgeous blonde that seems to devolve into digital penetration - rankles as much as it embarrasses its inspiration-starved creators.

The fortunes of Israeli cinema have been on the ascent in recent years; they’ve fared remarkably well in telling meaningful stories without necessarily resorting to lousy imitations of American by-products clogging cinemas with their weather-beaten mediocrity. If this marks their first attempt at slick commercial horror filmmaking, let’s hope it’s also their last.



I say: Look elsewhere for your blood and guts cravings.

See it for: A ridiculous need to brag about having seen Israel's first supposed 'slasher' film.