Rabies (2010)

I think this is probably why the movie has gotten such a low rating here on IMDb. Most people want a formulaic slasher film that follows all the basic American Hollywood rules. This is far from in. In fact, the spoiler I will reveal is that the supposed "psycho killer" has the least amount of screen time and is actually not even really a tool to drive the plot. This is the first horror movie which Israel has released and I admit, it's not SCARY in the conventional sense at all. I saw a couple reviews which completely pooped on this film for not being scary, but that's because it doesn't follow the formula of your typical Hollywood scare.What I can say is that this film did, in fact, scare me because of the fact that instead of bringing another formula slasher to the screen, it instead presented the horror of human nature to its audience. The true star of this film is not the psycho killer, but the nature that lies within us all. Jealousy, anger, misconception, and simple passions are the true stalkers here. The acting is amazing in that you can actually connect with every single character who dies in this film and feel bad for them in one way or another. The way they are presented really causes you to feel some sort of empathy with them so that you can honestly finish this movie feeling you got a sense of who that person was, making their death even more horrific because you'd actually taken some time to get to know them. The fact that this first-time attempt by Israeli film to create a slasher movie completely stepped outside the formula to come up with something new and innovative impressed the heck out of me. I have been DYING for something to finally bring something new to the whole genre of horror/slasher films, and this movie did it. Instead of creating a bad guy out of one person, it instead pointed out the horrors which can sometimes be found within our own nature.A brilliant film, through and through.

This movie was praised from its festival premieres and I was looking forward to a different horror movie with comedy elements. Man, was I disappointed.I give "Rabies" one thing... and that is that it sure is different. I guess it tries to be exactly that because the movie has nothing but one basic idea. Take horror movie clichés and turn them upside down. Kind of like "Tucker&Dale vs. evil" but minus the comedy.There is a killer here but he never manages to kill anyone. Instead everyone else in this damned forest ends up killing themselves or each other by accident and misunderstandings. Now that would make for a funny roller-coaster plot but "Rabies" goes for a strange slow pacing with barely any jokes, light moments or suspense. The atmosphere is rather dark and there is little gore which is another plus for "Rabies" because its not much but its done professional and without CG.Basically you got 4 guys and 4 girls stumbling through a forest that inexplicably is laced with land mines and a killer who instead of killing takes a 70minute nap. When 2 cops appear to help it goes downward because one of them has serious issues and sets off a downward spiral which has only one survivor... Hint: Its not a girl like in all the french horror movies.I have not laughed once until the end. You basically get one dialog with a family arriving on a wrong turn. And that has quite some laughs to end the movie on plus the survivor which you could expect in a movie that turns the expectable upside down. But I had to suffer through 80 minutes of boredom that was only eased by 1 landmine, 1 creative gore scene and basic setup of the film"Rabies" is a really strange movie that had so much going for it... its a shame they didn't really know where they were going in the end. In the middle of the movie i was close to pressing the stop button because nothing was happening.

Rabies, despite the title, has nothing to do with rabies, I think it is supposed to represent how infectious the violence was between the characters as they found themselves in a fight for survival and being paranoid about each other's intentions. Rabies, however, is a really creative, different & entertaining film that I thoroughly enjoyed. It all starts with a female, Tali who has fell down a trap in the woods and her brother, Ofer who is trying to get her out. We learn that the trap was set up by a crazed killer who plans on torchering and killing her. as soon as Ofer goes to try and get help to get his sister free, the madman returns and begins his assault on Tali. This is not a formulaic slasher film where a killer in the woods kills off a group of young 20 somethings one at a time, in fact the killer plays a very small part in the movie and acts more as a catalyst for a series of events that lead to interactions between other characters that stumble into and around the woods. In addition to Tali, Ofer and the killer, there is also a group of 4 friends on their way to a tennis match who get lost - they end up hitting someone on the road which is how they get involved in the plot & descent into the woods, 2 cops who are called to help the 4 friends and a man who is hunting and surveying the land in the woods with his dog. He also has a girlfriend who we meet at the beginning.I would definitely recommend this movie. The story line has many unpredictable twists and turns and overall the acting was solid although the girl playing Shir, played by Yael Grobgas was the one weak link. I think her wooden, blank performance was supposed to be a result of her character being in shock but she was just as wooden, blank and unnatural before any bloodshed occurred so I think she's just a horrible actress. That would be my one complaint in this film.8/10 = rating

Rabies isn't just the first Israeli horror film, a country most people living outside of it mistakenly think suffers from horror on a daily bases, but is also a slasher film with no real slasher. The fact that there isn't one killer, just makes the horror more intense and real: when the going gets tough, the tough (and gentle) get murderous; And when all happens in an enclosed part of the woods known as "Fox reservoir" - it's hard for anyone to escape the part of the man (or woman) with the gun (or ax,knife and anything around). The film follows a brother and sister that flee to the woods to hide their forbidden secret. But in the woods other people hide secrets; a psychopath killer sets traps all over the woods and the sister falls into one of them. The brother seeks for help and is hit by a car with two couples of tennis players that got lost on the way to a tennis tournament. He drags the two men in two the woods to help him and leaving the girls alone on the road. From this point on everything that might go wrong goes worst and involves a forest ranger, two cops and more. What strikes me most about the film is the way in which it lets human nature do its thing without needing any special incentive: everything that happens is just people loosing restrains on their civilized manners. The films seeks to show that movies don't need any super natural killer or a psychopath with a plan - just let people forget the way they were brought by, and anyone can kill. It is both a genre film and a comment about the genre and human beings. The woods is most likely the most important character in the film, and Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado in their directorial debut along with their cinematographer Guy Raz meticulously crafted its appearance as to look like the place where all hell can break loose, though it is usually a nice place to have a picnic. Blending in horror and comedy, the film puts (after more then 60 years) Israel on the map of horror films and hopefully will not just open doors for other young Israeli film makers to make other horror, Sci-fi and even musicals - all genres that have been almost completely forgotten in the history of Israeli cinema, but will also mark the beginning of an ongoing career for the two young directors.