The Brood (1979)
Sub-Genre- Cronenberg (Yeah, he gets his own sub-genre)
In Attendance- Me, Eryn, and The Vanilla Gorilla.
Cast Members of Note- Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar, Art Hindle.
What's it about?- The Brood is a prequel to Kramer vs. Kramer; it shows us the pitfalls of divorce, and how hard it can be on the kids. Especially if the kids in question are mongoloid mutants born from stomach sacks.
When a good, caring husband and father realizes that his wife is insane, he sends her off to the hospital for shock treatment and maybe a lobotomy; what she gets instead is a radical new therapy that makes her even more insane, and turns her into a mutant baby maker with absolutely no sense of humor.
The little mutoids start killing people at mom's request, and it isn't long before they want to kill their little sister too, and just because she's a normal human being! I cant stand intolerance.
I wont ruin the ending here, but suffice it to say that dad strangles mom to death.
The Good- This movie is a horror classic in many ways. It gets into your head and messes with you subtly on a subconscious level, and also hits you with the visceral terror in the same stroke. It's a creepy and disturbing breath of fresh air.
Some claim it's too slow paced, but you know what, go watch fucking Scream. God forbid that you allow tension to build, and for jump scares every two seconds to be replaced with mood and atmosphere. You know what, don't go watch Scream, just go jump off of your roof.
This movie is a prime example of why the late 70's/early 80's was one of the best periods in Horror history; people actually made films that explored new ideas instead of retreading the same old ground.
The Bad- Every time I get so much as a mosquito bite I think that "Psychoplasmics" has got a hold on me. Fucking David Cronenberg.
The Downright Horrendous- Why did she have to die?
The Gory- This one delivers the crimson goods; mutant kids bashing people to death with mallets, bloody infant licking, deformed body birth... there's plenty of Cronenberg-esque nastiness on display here.
The Naked- Just the body of a dead mutant kid, but that doesn't count.
Best Line- "Thirty seconds after you're born you have a past and sixty seconds after that you begin to lie to yourself about it." or "Damn kids."
What did we learn?- If Cronenberg teaches us nothing, it's that we are our own worst enemy, and our bodies are out to destroy us. Also, all wives are apparently insane. Also, Cronenberg has issues, and since he's Canadian, that means all Canadians have issues too.
Rating- A+ A masterpiece. Cronenberg's work in the 70's and 80's made statements and forced the audience to ask themselves some hard questions, and The Brood is no exception. You must have this movie in your collection.
Final Thoughts- My mom gives this movie to me on DVD every Christmas; she saves it until last, and stares at me like Samantha Eggar (see pic below) until I open it. Once my tears begin to flow, she starts to laugh and runs off into the attic. I think she's trying to tell me something.
