‘Rabies’ is an infectious horror film

Rabies, the new Hebrew-language horror film from Navot Papushado and Aharon Keshales, knows how to creep up on its viewers and totally floor their expectations. If you think you know how this story will end, you will be wrong. Rabies is a purely original horror flick. I thought these types of movies were long gone.

The film features a dizzying number of characters, but it’s never too difficult to figure out the varied story lines. A brother and sister with a strangely close relationship retreat to the woods for some alone time. Things don’t go so well. She falls into a trap set by a killer, and he needs to find help right away. As this happens, a group of four 20-somethings head out for a day in the forest, and they soon become entangled in the murderous plot. Add in a couple of police officers and a married couple with a dog and Rabies becomes an Agatha Christie novel.

What makes the movie so refreshingly different is that the central plot point (the killer and his trap) are secondary to everything else. Papushado and Keshales are more interested in showing the animal instincts of the supposedly innocent bystanders who get caught in the tornado of mayhem. Every character, at point or another, is called upon to show their fangs and display some violence. Everyone becomes an animal, and no one seems safe.

The actors, including Lior Ashkenazi and Henry David, all look the part. They’re mostly young and attractive, and that usually means they will die quickly in a horror film. But these characters are smarter than most, and they make stupid, but perfectly acceptable, decisions to survive. There’s no standout in the cast, mostly because Rabies is an “ideas” film that relies more on its twisted plot than fine characterization.

The “horror” of this horror film is almost nonexistent. The movie would be better classified as a taut thriller, one that relies on nail-bitingly intense scenes of violence. There’s blood and carnage, to be sure, but it never feels overly excessive. The directors spin a warped tale that always keeps the audience guessing, and this makes the atmosphere and story as important as the cheap theatrics.

The end result of the 94-minute feature doesn’t add up to much. There’s no great reveal worth noting, and the violence gets somewhat old near the end. Still, there needs to be applause given when a horror film decides to break from the tradition of so many other sub-par slasher flicks. This is not a gorefest; it’s actually quite clever.

The one thing that doesn’t work is the title. There’s never a mention of rabies in the film, and it doesn’t work nicely as a metaphor. The original title was Kalevet; so perhaps something was lost in translation. Nevertheless, the film provides an interesting premise, some dark humor and plenty of anticipation. This one is that rare horror gem: a film daring enough to break from the rubric.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Rabies

• In Hebrew with English subtitles

• 2011

• Written and directed by Navot Papushado and Aharon Keshales

• Starring Lior Ashkenazi and Henry David

• Running time: 94 minutes

• Unrated

• Rating: