Throughout the last decade, the Israeli film scene has found relative success both critically and commercially, but those film were either variations of the war theme in Beaufort, Waltz with Bashir and Lebanon or family dramas Late Marriage and Noodle. Other genres haven’t really been explored, and when we have veered off into other templates, it’s been a fairly dismal effort (see last year’s Kirot). This time around, Israeli cinema has gone the horror genre route and on 1st December (which coincides with the eve of Hanukah), the horror film Rabies (the disease, not the plural of Rabbi) will be released – the pic is directed by a film critic-turned director Aharon Kesheles and co-directed by Navot Papushado (featured in the pic below).
Early screenings have been earning rave reviews, and the local industry and future investors are curious in seeing just what kind of potential awaits when you factor in that the film’s opening weekend has the potential of targeting many in the 18-25 demo – as many of them will be on school holiday (Hanukah).
The story line reminds of of a popular 80’s franchise that took place around the infamous Crystal Lake, as this sees a few young people getting lost in the woods, and then, they dwindle down in numbers. Judging by trailer below, the look of the film is meticulous, and the star filled cast with Lior Ashkenazi (Late Marriage) and Ofer Shechter (Phobidilia) to name but a few, assures that this cheesy, yet high in quality introduction to this genre will have some staying power.
