The Soska Sisters Talk In-Depth about their remake of Cronenberg’s Rabid

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

At this point, I'm sure all of us know that the Soska Sisters (AMERICAN MARY) are currently hard at work on a remake of David Cronenberg's body-horror classic RABID. And recently the sisters sat down with our buddies over at DC and talked in-depth about this film.

You can check out their thoughts and comments regarding the remake, including hints at casting, differences between the two versions, and more! Check it out and then make sure to hit us up and let us know in the comments below or on social media!

Sylvia Soska on beginning pre-production:

We’re in prep right now. We’re about to go to Toronto where we’re going to be doing the rest of the heavy prep. We’re locking down our cast. We’re locking down our locations. The monsters are about to be made. It’s the most exciting phase of the project, but it’s also the time where we’re like, “Oh my God, how much time do we have before things start?”

Jen Soska:

You’re going to be learning more about who our cast is. Do we have our Rose? Yes, we do! It’s a fan-favorite, great in the genre, and someone we’ve wanted to work with for a while. Fans are going to be really excited when they see who we cast.

Sylvia on casting:

David originally wanted Sissy Spacek for Rabid but went with Marylin Chambers. I think we’ve found someone who’s in between. And (I hope this doesn’t give it away, but) she looks a lot like Marilyn—like a lot!

Jen:

People are going to read this over and over again trying to guess! I can say we’ve re-teamed with MastersFX again, so we’re going to have some amazing practical effects. Because we want to be very true to David Cronenberg’s work.

Jen then went on to talk a bit about how they came to be attached to the project in the first place:

The project came to us. If you were to ask me what my favorite Cronenberg film is, you know, I love all of them, but it would be Dead Ringers, obviously. I’ve thought of remaking that one a million times. Rabid was actually brought to us, and I was very skeptical when I heard someone was remaking this film. But when I realized we’d be working with [John Serge] a real author, I was like, “Well, I hate remakes, but it’s really important for someone who gives a shit about David’s body of work, the fans of the original film, to revamp it.” I thought, “Oh, God, what if it’s just one of those soulless remakes?” I don’t need to name any of them, but you know what I’m talking about. I was afraid this would be Rabid in title only with nothing to do with the original.

Sylvia:

The cool thing is it forced us to go back to Cronenberg Film School. We read all of his interviews, watched all of his commentaries, read every book that he had—especially from around the 1970s and 1980s so we could build on that. It’s almost like a companion piece to David’s original. Shivers is being remade too. I found that out. There are a few Cronenberg remakes in the works, but ours will be the first out of the gates. The Twins will wind the race—with the support of the Canadian Government no less! So how ‘bout that, eh?

Jen on the differences between their remake and Cronenberg's original film:

Well I think the big difference between our Rabid and David’s Rabid is, firstly we’re female, so it’s going to be from a female gaze. As much as I feel in touch with the male side of myself it will be seen through the eyes of a lady. And I believe in life after death; I believe in spirituality and that’s going to play into the themes as well. There are going to be moments where, maybe a guy will be watching and be like, “Wow! Do women really experience shit like this?” Unfortunately, yes. It’s going to be a very timely piece in addition to going back to the original sensibilities of transhumanism in David’s Rabid.

And finally, Jen talked about the film's modern-day setting:

It’s not a 1970s film, it’s very modern. So, you will see how Rose fits into this culture. As she gets stronger and as she evolves you’ll see how her position shifts.

You can read the entire interview RIGHT HERE.