You know what's so great about the little quest I've undertaken this month? The fact that I'm really sticking to my guns and only watching movies I've never seen before, that's what. You were expecting me to say something about Charles Nelson Reilly, weren't you? Well, there's that whole saga, too. But it's seeing all these fantastic movies for the very first time...like a virrrrrrgin...when your heart beats...next to mine... whoaaaaa...oh. Erm, sorry. Yes- my hardened cynical little brain thought there was nothing left out there for me- I'd seen all the good horror movies, I'm so great, blah blah blah. But I am on a roll, I tells ya, and my Shocktober is fast becoming my ThereGoesYourFaceOutTheWindowBecauseIt'sBeenRockedOffSoHardtober. Or maybe something less cumbersome, more catchy.
David Cronenberg. Can we talk about David Cronenberg for a second? My God, his movies disturb me. Every one I've seen- they're so nihilistic and off-kilter and smart and juuuust close enough to reality that I find them incredibly unsettling. He's one sick, crazy genius man.
Today I saw The Brood (1979) for the first time. Uh huh. Wow.
The movie centers around Frank Carveth (Art Hindle), whose wife Nola (Samantha Eggar) is under the care of an eccentric, controversial psychotherapist, played to perfection by Oliver Reed (Burnt Offerings). Reed's Dr. Raglan practices "Psychoplasmics", which includes alot of role playing in order to break down the walls of the patient's psyche. Weekend visits with crazy ol' Nola are part of the treatment, but when daughter Candice (Cindy Hinds) comes home from a weekend with mom covered in scratches, bite marks, and bruises, Frank tries to get to the bottom of it all.
At this point, to give away any more of this twisted tale would be a crime. Like alot of Cronenberg's work, it touches on body mutilation and physical manifestations of insanity. The first scene where we see the...somethings that terrorize Frank and family is one of the most frightening sequences I've seen in a long, long time. That's all I'll say. You just...really need to see this movie, if you haven't. And if you have seen it, go turn off the lights watch it again, I dare ya. I'll give it...9-and-a-half out of 10 meat tenderizers...I've got a new favorite on my list.
Not cool, Mr. Cronenberg. Not fucking cool at all.
6 comments:
Check out Rabid.
More Cronenberg body stuff. It is not as good as Brood but it's still pretty creepy.
Rabid is awesome. Marilyn Chambers in her first straight role manages to make sucking bblood out of a cow with the pointy thing under her arm look sexy...
Did I just write that? Eewww...
The Brood is so totally awesome and my favorite Cronenberg movie. Nice choice!
Amanda By Night
David Cronenberg is insane, insane I tell you. I mean, SHE BIT THROUGH IT AND LICKED IT!! WTF! That will haunt me forever.
Thanks for the reccomendation. Twisted to perfection.
And Art Hindle looks SO MUCH like Eric Close he might as well be him. I spent the whole time trying to figure out where I'd seen him before.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this movie. As I said on your Facebook, it's right behind The Fly and Videodrome as my favorite Cronenberg flick. One day in Scriptwriting class I brought this movie in for my teacher to borrow, since he was a Cronenberg fan and had never seen it. Well that day he happened to forget to bring the test we were supposed to take, so he suggested that we show the movie to the class. So we watched it, and afterwards one student was like "That was one of the worst movies I've ever seen." And I snapped, "You must not have seen very many movies then!" Punk.
Seriously, I don't see how anyone can hate this movie. It is PERFECT.
Yes, The Brood is really PERFECT. And it's the first of Cronenberg's films in which we can identify ourselves more profoundly with some characters. It's a very emotional film, but at the same time very rational. As in all of his films, Cronenberg puts us very near the organic pulsions of the protagonists, but shows these pulsions in a very analytical point of view. Cronenberg dissects his characters and their bodily pulsions, through which all reality is designed. "There's nothing real out of our perception of reality, is there?" - this phrase of Brian O'Blivion in Videodrome (1982) says everything about the central concern of this wonderful director.
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