The Brood (1979)

David Cronenberg films are always interesting, even when they are a mixed bag like this one. Leonard Maltin glibly summarized the film as, "(Samantha) Eggar eats her own afterbirth while midget clones beat grandparents and lovely young schoolteachers to death with mallets." Needless to say, Maltin was not a fan of the film, but what it's really about is a recently divorced father going through a custody battle with his ex-wife, Eggar, who is in a mental institution under the care of psychiatrist Oliver Reed, who has his patients undergoing an experimental treatment. Things get weird when the father tries to cut off contact between his daughter and her institutionalized mother after discovering bruises, when the aforementioned mutant homunculus creatures in little hoodies begin killing the various caretakers of the young girl. As with all Cronenberg films, it's more than a simple straight horror film and contains substance behind the horror, this time tackling divorce, parenting, and possibly an undercurrent of anti-feminism (Cronenberg himself was going through a divorce and custody battle at the time), though I'm not quite sure if the story is an indictment of this one selfish individual female character or if it's an indictment of an entire movement. Cronenberg films are thematically quite consistent and I haven't noticed any strains of misogyny or anti-feminism in his other films, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Also, as with most Cronenberg films, there are elements of "Body Horror," which for those unfamiliar with this horror sub-genre, is not the same as graphic bloody horror, but is when the horror is derived from unnatural graphic transformation, degeneration, or destruction of the human body (think "Eraserhead," "From Beyond," or Cronenberg's "The Fly"). The body horror elements in this film are pretty repellent and will likely turn off most audience members. The film's rather austere presentation will also alienate most horror fans, who are the ones who'd likely get into the body horror elements, which leaves this film with a pretty narrow band of people who will enjoy off-putting intellectual art-house horror. Overall, I don't know that I would recommend "The Brood" to most viewers, but I found it a fascinating and interesting film, despite it's pacing and narrative flaws. FUN FACT! Oliver Reed was arrested by the Canadian police during the production of the film after he made a bet with someone that he could walk from one bar to another without wearing clothes in freezing cold weather.

The Brood (1979)** 1/2 (out of 4)Dr. Raglan (Oliver Reed) is treating Nola Carveth (Samantha Eggar) for some sort of mental issue. The doctor refuses to let her husband Frank (Art Hindle) see her but soon he is trying to figure out exactly what's going on. Soon some sort of children/creatures are killing people and Frank finds himself and his daughter (Cindy Hinds) under attack.THE BROOD is without question one of the strangest horror films of the decade and that's saying something and especially when you considering how strange director David Cronenberg's previous films were. SHIVERS and RABID were both rather crazy movies but THE BROOD shows that the director wanted to take things a step further and this film once again features some great performances wrapped up in a really bizarre story full of some graphic violence and an all around crazy feel.The first image I ever saw from this film was a kid I was looking through Fangoria when I saw the still of the child screaming and a hand reaching through a wall grabbing her. The ending to THE BROOD is certainly quite intense as the dark atmosphere hangs over the film and we're given some quite memorable murder sequences. The creatures do their killing by bashing the head's of the victims and the violence is right up in your face and quite realistic. The atmosphere is extremely rich as the director certainly adds a touch of dread throughout the picture.One major plus are the performances with Reed leading the way. There have been countless mad scientist roles out there but I really loved how Reed played this character. He's very stern but at the same time is always speaks calmly and you can just tell that you're watching something that is both brilliant and off their rockers. Perhaps that was just Reed being able to put himself into the character. Eggar is also good in her role of the mother and Hindle is good too. Hinds is also quite memorable in the role of the child.THE BROOD does have its share of flaws including the fact that it runs a tad bit too slow and it takes quite a while for us to reach what is actually going on. One wishes that we were let in on the secret a tad bit earlier in the picture so that we could have gotten some more attacks since these scenes were certainly the highlight.

David Cronenberg directs "The Brood" an interesting and original horror movie starring Art Hindle. Giving it the benefit of the doubt for its age, the movie is a good watch. Make-up and some of the horror is obviously not up to do todays standards, but the acting is passable, and especially good from Oliver Reed, playing a cool, calm, and collected doctor. The suspense is satisfactory, while the violence is somewhat perfunctory and far-fetched especially when considering the brood explanations. The story didn't really get into origins of the brood enough although it hints at the so-called therapy as related. The music was a bit dramatic and overcooked, but the settings were well chosen. Give it 6/10 for originality, and interesting for the genre.

I don't know what it is about early Cronenberg movies - he seemed to deliberately cast terrible male actors in lead roles. Art Hindle is a real eye sore (much like Paul Hampton in They Came From Within). But the magnetic Oliver Reed and the sinister and sexy looking Samantha Egger more than make up for him.Cronenberg had some great ideas for his early movies. There are the gross and over the top special effects that is his trademark. And the suspicion of institutions which is a feature of Cronenberg's work (like in Scanners and They Came From Within). There are sinister organizations involved in nefarious activities in all three films.The Brood is probably the best among Cronenberg's early work. But you would have to ignore the crappy special effects and the cheesy child killers.