Fresh, inventive, fast paced - this film was like going on a fun roller coaster. Never a dull moment and you do not know exactly what will happen next. Just when you think it is going to follow a formula the bottom drops out. Never having seen any of these actors before added to the experience. At first it may seem there are too many characters but it all blends together at the end. If feels like the directors took the theme of the old movie "After Hours" and paired it with the comedy of "Shaun of the Dead." Then gave it a Cohen brothers twist. I really enjoyed this film and the previous effort (Big Bad Wolves). There are gory scenes (and I dislike gore) but it did not seem excessive or gratuitous.

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.

A brother and sister who run away from home find sanctuary in a deserted nature reserve. When the sister falls into the trap of a psychopathic killer...This is probably the best horror film I have seen so far this year (2012). Rich plot, twists, turns, a healthy amount of gore without resorting to CGI. Characters with some depth. A very creepy sexual assault scene (without the aid of nudity being in this picture).I just have to say I was impressed. The plot weaves in and out of different characters' lives fluidly, expertly. We learn just enough about them to be interested, but not enough to ruin the surprises. You will have many questions throughout the film -- some will be answered and some will not. Is there room for a sequel? Yes, but it would be a mistake to add to this film.I am not completely clear why the film is called "Rabies". My best guess is because it contains a very contagious violence. But if you are looking for a plague or zombie film, this is not it. (Even "slasher" is not at all correct, regardless of how some people have presented the film.) Do not judge this film by its cover. The box design is rather poor, but the film inside is not. A must-see for horror fans.

First of all it's worth pointing out that the title of this film doesn't really have any bearing on the content. When you hear that this is a film called Rabies set in the woods, you would be forgiven for thinking that it's going to be a Cabin Fever clone. But in truth Rabies is a much more ambitious film than that. It basically has a group of disparate people brought together one day in the woods where a psychopath traps and kills people. However, where the film differs from most of this type is that the maniac is probably the most irrelevant character in the whole film. Instead he is the catalyst for a series of events leading to all the other characters independently committing all manner of violent acts. There's barely a story here and none of the characters are very well-developed but the slightly chaotic narrative is certainly a bit unusual.As far as I'm aware, this is the first horror film from Israel. Maybe even the first in the whole of the Middle East. So I suppose it's quite important in that respect. It's by no means a great film but it isn't especially derivative and it does have some good jump moments and occasionally effective humour. Worth seeing for horror buffs.