A lot of negative reviews judge this movie based on the current cinema because people cannot separate between their daily cultural experience and their expectations. They exist now and what they experience must fit what they know. And as result many are just missing the whole point. The movie is mostly a tribute to Cronenberg and his movies, with small winks to his other films. But it is also an attempt to do a pure horror movie of the 70's and 80's. Not in a way of homage or a reference, but as if it was made in 80's on its own.

And I admit the attempt doesn't always work out and there are some falls on the way, but in general they did succeed. From the zooms and strange top angles of the camera, to the thematic mad scientist with fatalistic ideology and ridiculous over the top colorful characters.

It's hard to judge pop culture of different decade, many things can seems so alien and unusual. There are decades so far it's practically a history, there are decades that not so far in the past that still feel popular in a retro sense, and there are decades between them that awake a sense of nostalgy, specifically if the person was a child or a teenager in that decade. That's what horror of 70's and 80's is now, it's already out of retro references but still not old enough to become classic history. And this movie attempts to link viewers into that, as if this was a hidden film straight up from that time. Not fully successfully, but entertaining enough and smart enough for some viewers to appreciate it.

Suggest original Rabid to anyone who want to see pure classic horror, it's one of the best films of early Cronenberg before he switched to more philosophical movies.