“MOMMIE’S DEAREST”

By Raymond Benson

David Cronenberg’s horror films always seem to tackle subjects that involve an unpredictable human body and the terror of your consciousness residing inside of it. He explored parasites in his first mainstream picture, Shivers (aka They Came From Within, 1975), and viral “stingers” than grow in a woman’s armpit in his second, Rabid, 1977. The rest of his movies, leading up to the ultimate statement of being trapped in a horrible body, The Fly (1986), all dealt with some aspect of physical or mental transformation. The Brood, released in 1979, fits right in with Cronenberg’s thematic fascination with flesh and blood. And it’s a corker.

Oliver Reed plays Dr. Raglan, an unorthodox psychotherapist who uses controversial techniques that cause his patients to manifest their inner turmoil and anger into visible, bizarre growths on their bodies. One guy sprouts spots. Another man grows a weird gland on the outside of his neck. The most extreme result of Dr. Raglan’s methods occurs with a disturbed woman named Nola (Samantha Eggar), who was abused as a child and is in the throes of a divorce and custody battle with her husband Frank (Art Hindle). Nola is growing “wombs” on her body that eventually give birth to horrific dwarf “copies” of her and Frank’s five-year-old daughter Candice (Cindy Hinds)—except these siblings are murderous creatures unwittingly and psychically controlled by their mother. They have the faces of trolls, no navels, and are anatomically asexual, but otherwise they are somewhat identical to Candice. (Where they get the clothes that Candice wears is unexplained.)

As a horror film, The Brood brilliantly succeeds. The shocks are genuine, the gross-out factor is palpable, and the story—which is absurd on the surface—is intelligently well-written (by Cronenberg himself). Apparently the impetus for the film was the director’s harrowing experience in going through a divorce and rescuing his child from a cult.

Reed delivers one of his best campy performances, and Eggar is suitably deranged in her part. Of particular note is young Hinds, who manages to be simultaneously innocent and creepy—this was her first acting role. Perhaps the weakest link in the picture is Hindle, who somehow never reaches the emotional heights that his co-stars do.

It’s a fairly low-budget affair, made for a little less than two million dollars, but the visual effects and production values are top-notch. As noted in the new supplemental documentary on the film’s making, all the strange bodily terrors were accomplished with clever makeup applications—in particular, the use of various-sized condoms filled with movie blood and... other stuff. Eggar relates how hilarious this actually was on the set; she could hardly keep from laughing as the crew glued the ends of prophylactics onto her torso.

Criterion has released a new, restored 2K digital transfer, supervised by Cronenberg, with an uncompressed monaural soundtrack. As is usually the case with Criterion Blu-rays, the video is gorgeous and vividly colorful—and this is one of those movies in which the color is practically a character in the film! Supplements include: the new documentary featuring interviews with Eggar, executive producer Pierre David, cinematographer Mark Irwin, assistant director John Board, and special makeup effects artists Rick Baker and Joe Blasco (neither of whom worked on The Brood, but served on other Cronenberg pictures); a 2011 interview with Cronenberg covers his early career in the 70s; a 2013 interview with Hindle and a grown-up Hinds is conducted by the editor of Fangoria magazine; and—most fun of all—a segment from The Merv Griffin Show from 1980, featuring Reed verbally sparring with Orson Welles. There’s also a radio spot and an essay by critic Carrie Rickey in the booklet.

Another notable supplement is Cronenberg’s rare second feature film, Crimes of the Future (1970), made in color on a shoestring budget. This is a truly bizarre picture about a world in which all the women capable of reproducing are gone (killed by toxic cosmetics) and men are attempting to compensate without a feminine influence in their lives. A little too stilted for its own good, Crimes serves as a curiosity in the Cronenberg pantheon that is worth seeing... once.

But the main attraction is an excellent fright fest. The Brood has arrived in glorious high definition just in time for Halloween. Grab the popcorn, turn out the lights, and prepare yourself for some truly nightmarish material. The Brood is a keeper.

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