Die Brut

A great early film from the one and only, "Baron of Blood."

A husband is going through a hard time in his life when he must care for his daughter after his wife was sent away to a mental institution. The doctor running the institution is respected in his field, but controversial in his methods and there is a smell of something foul in the air. Things only get worse for the husband when his in-laws are killed some strange little monsters and his daughter winds up with scars after visiting her mother in the hospital. Added to that the doctor refuses to talk about the man's wife and he seems to treat her as somewhat of a prized patient giving her special care. He goes, on his own to investigate and discovers the horror behind everything that happened... The Brood.

The story is told in a very classical sense of the word horror, almost like Poe with a slow beginning, a sense of doubt and confusion in the middle, and a shocker and a kicker of an ending. And, as all good horror, there is some great visceral metaphor mixed in to the story. With this film David Cronenberg put himself on the road to the ranks of the horror film-making elite. 8/10

Rated R: violence, gore, and some profanity

I really enjoyed David Cronenberg's film called The Brood. It is about a woman who is being cared for by an eccentric psychologist called Dr. Raglan(Oliver Reed). Who uses theatrical techniques to breach the psychological blocks in his patients. When their six year old daughter comes back from a visit with her mother and is covered with bruises the father Frank Carveth attempts to stop his his wife from seeing their daughter. But the psychologist Dr. Raskin will not stop his wife from seeing the girl. whilst this is happening his daughter's teacher is is attacked by two strange looking deformed children. Her father starts to believe that it is to do with Dr. Rankin and a psychotherapy cult which he may have something to do with it. This film was quite disturbing at times. I thought that Oliver Reed played a very good part in the film.

David Cronenberg has always possessed a flair for unique and disturbing visions infused with the trimmings of a genre that can be best referred to as "biohorror." "The Brood," his tale of hideous mutant children who do the bidding of mentally disturbed Nola (Samantha Eggar) under the care of new-wave psychiatrist Dr. Raglan (Oliver Reed, with a quietly sophisticated Peter Cushing sensibility), is buffered by fine performances that veer away from camp. In a way, one of Cronenberg's achievements is writing such outlandish material and making it entirely convincing and visceral, as opposed to merely settling on B-movie cheesiness, which I admire. As is the case with most Cronenberg films, here 'reality' is made the most atypical place where man can reside, and the clever script is always one careful step ahead of the audience.

7/10

The Brood is undoubtedly the most personal movie Cronenberg ever made : we all know the film describes Cronenberg's vision of his own divorce (and the custody of his daughter Cassandra) ; at that time, his then-wife belonged to what he thought was a cult and he did kidnap his own daughter in order to protect her. Thus The Brood is full of rage, vengeance and death wish… It is a truly frightening story and, in its own way, a candid vision of one's personal tragedy. It seems to be a tale from the Grimm brothers, and, at the same time, a reflection on the powerful link between body and spirit. The script is surprisingly complex and rich, even if, in the end, there is definitely something childish in the movie, but in a positive way: the childish belief that "thoughts can kill" only tempered by the final sequence, when we understand that this little girl, so cruelly abused, will eventually reproduce what her mother developed. The image of this mother (Samantha Eggar at her best, revealing her tortured body that evokes a Roman goddess) is one of the most terrifying one in world cinema. The Brood is a key to understand one of the Cronenberg's major themes: the uncanny… How what is closest to us, family, mother, grandparents, might suddenly become the ultimate horror. What frightens us is not outlandish or alien, on the contrary, it's always part of our intimate universe (as in Videodrome).

Nola Carveth is a patient at the Somafree Institute under the care of Dr. Hal Raglan, a leader in an experimental form of therapy known as 'psychoplasmics.' Frank is Nola's estranged husband, who is battling for custody of their child Candice. Nola gets angry and her mental illness makes her unstable around the child. Meanwhile, a strange series of gruesome murders begins, with the victims all knowing the Carveths well. Deciding to learn more about Dr. Raglan and psychoplasmics himself, Frank begins to investigate, finding himself at the center of a mystery that will change his life irrevocably, in David Cronenberg's 'The Brood.'

'The Brood' is full of the blood, body horror and disturbing images that one would expect of a Cronenberg venture. It is tense and brimming with macabre thrills, chills and unsettling scenes. That is not to say the film is without dramatic or intellectual power, because 'The Brood' has more to offer than your average wild and weird horror. A comment about the effects of child-abuse and mental illness in conjunction with parenting and guardianship is being made through Cronenberg's partially autobiographical screenplay, one that is slightly obscured by the violence around it.

Although the murders add another dimension to the story, they take away from the atmosphere of quiet intrigue surrounding Raglan, the Carveths and the Institute; as well as diminish the power of the aforementioned subtle commentary about mental health and abuse. While they serve a purpose and are important to the plot, something a little less sensationalist would have been more in keeping with the eerie tone established early on in the film. In short, the psychological horror elements are fantastic, while the elements of physical horror seem lacking- or even rudimentary- in comparison.

Less rudimentary is Mark Irwin's cinematography, which is striking and stylish work. The pairing of Cronenberg and Irwin is like that of David Lynch and Frederick Elmes: a fruitful partnership with artistic leanings that has resulted in some visually stunning movies. 'The Brood' is a cold and beautiful looking film, with Irwin's use of space and his chosen composition being especially significant. He and Cronenberg made six films together; each one is texturally rich, undeniably impressive and memorable in terms of visuals.

As in most Cronenberg flicks, special effects and make-up is of tremendous importance to 'The Brood,' and Allan Cotter's work does not disappoint. He creates such disturbing, pulsating creatures and attachments that one with a weak stomach may want to forgo the film entirely. His work is on show primarily in the latter half of the film and will leave an indelible impression on the viewer- for better and for worse.

Composer Howard Shore has worked on sixteen Cronenberg films, with 'The Brood' being his first and 2022's 'Crimes of the Future' being the most recent. Shore's work in 'The Brood' is eerie and evocative, though often mournful and mysterious. It is music that helps inform scenes of tone, but never in an overly grandiose manner. For the film, Shore has created subtle, melodically pleasing compositions that linger in the mind long after the credits have gone up and the cinema is empty.

The performances from the cast are also memorable and strong, with Oliver Reed particularly impressing as Dr. Raglan. Reed had a screen presence like no other, with his remarkable calm and brooding intensity, he instantly draws the eye and keeps its' attention. Due to his reputation as a hellraiser, he received relatively few interesting roles or films from the mid-70's onward, and the ones he chose to do generally wasted his immense talents. Cronenberg doesn't let Reed's skills go to waste, and the actor turns in a powerful, reserved performance that will be remembered fondly by any who see the film.

Art Hindle and Samantha Eggar star as Frank and Nola, facsimiles of Cronenberg and his first wife Margaret Hindson. Both deliver strong performances, though Hindle fades into the background somewhat; one gets the feeling that many other actors could have played that part. Not so with Eggar, she is intensely assured and captivating, making Nola the epitome of the unhinged housewife. She is like a black panther on a moonless night, alluring, understated and unquestionably deadly. It is a fine performance of no vanity that'll be remembered and appreciated for as long as cinema lasts.

'The Brood' is a strange, intense horror that contains delicacies of an intellectual and of a visceral kind. Featuring gory scenes and body horror a-plenty, it also explores the topics of mental health and abuse in an informed and measured way. Cronenberg's direction and screenwriting is impressive, while he makes the most of talented actors like Oliver Reed and Samantha Eggar; extracting from them fine, subdued and deeply affecting performances. While it is not perfect, 'The Brood' is an interesting, entertaining film that offers a lot more than your average slasher. If you like your movies on the dark side; it's one you're going to love.