Dietmar Stork

Tribeca: „Rabies / Kalevet“ – these woods bring out the worst in you!

Something is wrong with these woods – something brings the worst out of people in here. We just don’t know what it is. And maybe even the two directors of „Kalevet“ (rabies), Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado, which is shown at the Tribeca Film Festival don’t have a clue about „it“. But it sure hurts!

The setting: some woods somewhere in Israel, full of old landmines, bear traps and a serial killer. The cast: a brother and sister who ran away from home, four young tennis players, two horny cops, a ranger and a sadist killer.

Just don’t expect that the events unfold as you expect them to. Anything in here can be misleading. The movie starts as a typical slasher film, but changes its direction every ten minutes. The only thing for certain is that the woods let people show their violent side – expect a pretty high boy count, considering that the movie only has a dozen characters in total.

„Rabies“ by Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado claims to be Israel’s first horror movie. It isn’t really though: Besides some scenes which are as funny as brutal, the two directors clearly prefer „Picnic at Hanging Rock“ over the traditional slasher film. Be warned: This might be disappointing!