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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
Cronenberg being Cronenberg, September 13, 2004
Every once in awhile when I am feeling reflective I like to watch a David Cronenberg film. I have seen quite a few of them at this point, from some of his earliest stuff like "Shivers" to his seminal reworking of "The Fly" starring Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. One thing you will always get out of a Cronenberg film is a serious look at how technology and human beings interact. Like science fiction author J.G. Ballard, Cronenberg's films embrace a synthesis of man and machine that is exceedingly grim, usually served with a generous helping of gore. The overarching theme in his cinematic examinations seems to be that humans simply do not know enough about the technology they develop, or if they do, their arrogance in the ultimate abilities of mankind always leads them charging into experiments despite the risks. That we are just not far seeing enough to predict the outcome of using new drugs, messing around with human genetics, or plugging game units into our spinal cords may be a good message to take from a Cronenberg film. "The Brood" is an early (1979) effort from the Canadian director, an effort that is better than "Rabid" and "Shivers" yet still deals with themes his later films would revisit again and again.
"The Brood" explores the dangers of human emotions, in particular the emotion of rage. The movie opens with an extended scene involving Dr. Hal Raglan (Oliver Reed) conducting an intense psychotherapy session with a distraught young man. We learn that this patient harbors a burning dislike for his father, so Raglan role-plays the part of the young man's father in an effort to help dissipate the anger. It's a very 1970's sort of psychological treatment, as is the fact that an audience watches the lengthy session. Afterwards, we discover that Reed's character runs a private clinic called Somafree where he deals exclusively with patients incapacitated with rage. The young man seen in the opening sequence, although "performing" for an audience, is not Raglan's star patient. That honor falls to Nola Carveth (Samantha Eggar), a beautiful mother of one locked away in one of the clinic's spacious holding rooms. You see, Raglan notices that in some human beings rage manifests itself physically, not only in shouting and violence, but also with sores and other marks on the body. In the case of Carveth, something much more sinister and dangerous occurs when she gets angry. It's the sort of thing that could bring fame and riches to a doctor if controlled in the right way.
In the meantime, Nola's husband Frank (Art Hindle) and her daughter Candace (Cindy Hinds) must deal with all the problems having a relative in a mental asylum entails. Frank struggles with the fact that his wife physically abused their daughter, and his main concern now is keeping his daughter away from Nola and Somafree. He suspects, perhaps rightfully so, that his wife continues to hurt young Candy during trips to Raglan's place. Too, Frank is starting to distrust the good doctor's motivations for insisting that Nola continue to see the child. The situation deteriorates to the point that Frank decides to seek a divorce. But Raglan knows something that Frank Carveth will soon learn in spades, that Nola Carveth possesses a unique power only rarely before seen in a human being. While others externalize rage through body sores, Nola literally externalizes by giving birth to malevolent little creatures that go forth and kill her enemies. That's right folks: what we have here are little misshapen, fanged apparitions of rage rampaging through the countryside. Nola's manifestations obliterate Candy's grandparents before moving on to the little girl's teacher. Anyone responsible for angering Nola soon finds a toothy, grunting little monster hot on his or her trail. The conclusion to this bizarre plot is incredibly disturbing.
I kept wondering what Cronenberg was saying as I watched "The Brood." Or perhaps it wasn't so much a case of wondering what was going on as it was wondering how original it was. Rage can kill--sure, I'll buy that. Destructive emotions can cause physical changes in humans--I'll buy that, too. We all know you can suffer a variety of maladies from stress and anger. Cronenberg just takes the idea a step further by declaring that rage can be so powerful that the emotion could literally take the form of a physical being driven by the anger. I don't think carrying the idea one step further is original--isn't there a long history of this sort of thing in witchcraft, demonology, and similar things? Don't get me wrong; I liked the movie a lot. Changing the setting to a mental health clinic is a nice touch, and Eggar, Reed, and Hindle excel in their respective performances. Where else will you see Oliver Reed viciously mauled by dozens of malefic little rage children? Exactly. Moreover, the Canadian atmosphere--lots of trees, dark nights, and back roads--gives the movie a sort of remote, out of the way feel that I liked.
The picture transfer on the DVD looks good, but you don't get anything beyond a trailer in the extras department. I've seen several Cronenberg films, especially his older ones, released in this manner. Why? Here's a guy who has lots of fans hungering for information on his movies. Fortunately, Criterion recently released "Videodrome," and some of his newer films do boast commentaries and behind the scenes stuff, so perhaps his older films will find a better reissue in the future. I for one would sure like to hear what Cronenberg has to say about a film like "The Brood." Until that day arrives, you should still give this one a watch if you enjoy offbeat films.
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9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
Intelligent horror, January 1, 2003
One of the great horror films about dysfunctional families, The Brood is David Cronenberg's 1980 masterpiece based in no small part on his own messy divorce around the time of the writing of the film. In it he gives vent to his frustrations and anger about relationships, but because he is one of the most intelligent filmmakers around, the script is literate and this gives the film its momentum. The events cohere, the characters are strong and credible, and the casting is equally excellent.Frank Carveth's wife Nola (Samatha Eggar) is a patient at the Somafree Institute run by Dr. Hal Raglan (Oliver Reed) whose magnum opus, The Shape of Rage, sums up his philosophy of psychological practice--that our inner rage will inevtiably express itself in outward manifestation. The opening scene of Raglan's dramatized session with one patient, Michael, reveals Michael's boils when he takes off his shirt to show the doctor how he really feels about his father. When Nola was very young, her mother treated her very badly and now Nola's rage is profound. She and Frank have a daughter, Candy, about whom there is intense disagreement--Frank does not want Candy to see her mother at the Institute every weekend because of potential harm, and Nola needs her to be there. When a kindly, young, pretty schoolteacher helps Frank with Candy, Nola finds out and assumes Frank and the teacher are having an affair. Mysterious murders occur, all apparently committed by one or more midgets or deformed children, all having a vague resemblance to Candy. To tell any more would be to give too much away. In the lead roles, Eggar and Reed are excellent, as is Art Hindle as Frank. Also great are the actors who play Nola's parents. This is a much overlooked film which should definitely not be missed. Highly recommended.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Another David Cronenberg gem!, June 12, 2006
When a wife (Samantha Eggar) is at a psychiatric clinic that runs a controversial therapy experiment called "Psychoplasmics" thanks to Dr. Hal Ralgan ( Oliver Reed), while she's over there she suddenly feels inner rage about to literally come to life out of her. This therapy helps patients release out their emotions but suddenly the experiment goes wrong as it makes her create little dwarf-like creatures that begin to kill people off, her husband and daughter are threatened by these creatures because only he must find out the secret behind all this.
Shocking, intelligent and dark horror/sci-fi psychological thriller that only David Cronenberg could pull off in his unique kind of style. The storyline is complex yet kind of interesting to say and there's some scares with splatter included! there are some smart ideas about the effects of being divorced and seperated from a child with how it can bring out inner pain with a twist on the killer kid genre.
The DVD is alright with good picture & sound quality but the only extra is the theatrical trailer, this is a highly recommended movie but not for those who are light sleepers.
Also recommended: "Scanners", "Videodrome", "Basket Case", "Bloody Birthday", "3 Extremes", "The Fly ( 1986)", "The Toxic Avenger", "It's Alive!", "It Lives Again", "It's Alive III: Island of the Alive", "The Stuff", "Slither", "Monkey Shines", "Society", "The Dead Zone ( 1983)", "Possession", "Beware! Children at Play", "Demons", "Dawn of the Dead ( 2004)", "The Pit", "The Children", "A History of Violence", "Naked Lunch", "Tetsuo The Iron Man", "Dead Ringers", "Phenomena", "Night Breed", "The Fury", and "Children of the Corn".
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