It’s a funny thing, watching David Cronenberg’s early films now with 40 years of work to his credit. He’s a director whose movies have a reputation for being cold, clinical, and cerebral. He is known for his fascination with body horror, but approaches it from the remoteness of a distant observer rather than as a fellow human being. And while some of this characterization may be correct, very little of it accurately describes his early efforts, including 1977’s Rabid, Cronenberg’s second-ever horror movie (following Shivers, aka They Came From Within) and his fourth feature film overall, now out on a special edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory.

At the time most famous for giving adult film superstar Marilyn Chambers her first leading role in a mainstream movie, Rabid is one of several variations on a theme Cronenberg made in the first half of his career, in which he...