Update: This story stated that the Soska sisters were still involved in making Painkiller Jane and Plastic. However, as per their Facebook page, they are no longer attached to those projects.
Original story:
We’re big fans of Jen and Sylvia Soska at SciFiNow, so any news about the Twisted Twins and the horror genre is good news.
Variety reports that the makers of American Mary, Dead Hooker In A Trunk and See No Evil 2 have signed on to direct a remake of David Cronenberg’s classic parasite horror 1977 Rabid, which starred Marilyn Chambers as a woman who grows a vampiric stinger from her armpit after a terrible accident, which feeds on people and turns them crazy.
“The work of David Cronenberg is legendary and Rabid is much more than just a horror movie,” the Soskas said. “The real message of his film is powerful, and even more pivotal as we look at the world around us today. It’s an honor to be involved in this love letter to his original, which we handle with the same respect as Paul Schrader’s Cat People, Alexandre Aja’s The Hills Have Eyes and John Carpenter’s The Thing.”
While we’d argue that Rabid doesn’t have the same raw power as his earlier Shivers (it’s been a while since we heard anything about that remake), it’s certainly a film we have a lot of love for, and we’d approach any remake with a certain amount of caution. That being said, it feels like a good fit for a reinterpretation by filmmakers like the Soskas, who could perhaps make the film more about the journey Chambers’ character goes on, as opposed to her distraught boyfriend (Frank Moore). There are also plenty of opportunity for some distressing body horror, which American Mary showed they have a gift for.
The Soska Sisters have several films on their plate at the moment but the site notes that this will film this summer. They’re still attached to the Painkiller Jane movie, then there’s Plastic, based on the novel by Frank Strausser. They’ll also appear in the now-filming Puppet Killer from director Lisa Ovies.
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