The Brood (1979)

(In French, On Cable TV, March 2020) For David Cronenberg fans, The Brood is worth a few moments of interest. It was clearly part of Cronenberg’s professionalization, as he became an experienced filmmaker through the Canadian Tax Shelter era. It’s, by Cronenberg’s own admission, clearly influenced by his own divorce—down to casting an actress that looked like his ex-wife and having her character strangled in the film’s climax. And we haven’t even delved into the distasteful premise of the film, dealing equally with suggestions of child abuse, body horror, psychological trauma manifesting itself through monstrous creatures, and a birthing/licking climax that pushes the disgust needle all the way to “yuck.” As usual for early Cronenberg, it’s for a very specific audience—and there’s no guarantee that even the gorehounds will like it, considering the overall atmosphere of dread that permeates the film: there’s no humour here, and a surprising amount of thematic depth in how you can choose to interpret the material. Hey, if you’ve made it through Rabid and Shivers and Scanners, why not complete the early-Cronenberg set?