FILM GUTTER REVIEWS: THE BROOD (1979)

13/5/2021

film gutter reviews the brood Dir. David Cronenberg

FILM GUTTER REVIEWS: THE BROOD (1979) BY ALEX DAVIS

Dir. David Cronenberg,
92 mins

2021 rolls into May now, and that brings us to Cronenberg month! Why Cronenberg month, I hear you cry? Because I say so, and what I so goes around these parts, that's why. In all seriousness, I've long been a fan of David's work, and son Brandon is also carving out a remarkably similar niche as something of an outsider producing really interesting films. It's some legacy, and through May I'll be starting with the work of the senior Cronenberg before moving onto a little something from Cronenberg Junior. And we're going back to the early days – although not the director's very first movie – with The Brood. This cast is led rather notably by Oliver Reed, who on reflection could probably have a themed month of his own around these parts – but what gravitas can this acclaimed
actor lend to this slice of body horror?

The Brood is a story about Frank Carveth, whose wife is undergoing a very unusual psychological treatment known as psychoplasmics, led by Oliver Reed's Dr Raglan. She's obviously been through plenty of trauma, as have many of the other inhabitants to the institute, but Raglan's relationships with the patients and their interactions make for plenty uncomfortably viewing. Frank begins to get a sense of just what danger his wife Nola might be in as the movie wears on, but there's an even more immediate threat than that as some of the dearest people around him get killed of one by one, murdered by strange, child-like shapes that we see very little of until the finale. As Frank desperately tries to get to his wife and end whatever bizarre force is destroying his and his daughter's life, there's a larger danger that could see them both dead...

There's good odds many of you out there might have seen this one already, but for those of you about 42 years late to the party I am going to endeavour to keep things spoiler free. This is an interesting piece, as it is a sort of body horror but that element is downplayed far more here than you might see in movies the likes of Videodrome and Scanners. There are certainly some gory moments, but only the one that really pushes into the flat-out grotesque. It's honestly more about the psychology and the connections between the characters, which does make it a pretty interesting movie. Reed is solid here as the creepy psychologist, and his patients – including a great turn from Samantha Eggar as Nola – do a fine job of portraying their distress along with the weird inter-dependence to the leader of psychoplasmics. Art Hindle as Frank Carveth is perfectly passable, and I want to give a nod to child actor Cindy Hinds too. Sometimes the children's performances can be a stumbling block in such movies, but not here.

There are some criticisms and niggles here and there – some of the lesser characters are maybe a little undercooked, which feels like a shame. The idea of psychoplasmics is never entirely clear to me, and I would have liked to have known more. My main reservation would probably be that the actual real body horror element is less than I would like – there might be a bit of personal taste in there, but it does play an important part in things, so it's still a valid point to me. Other than that, there's honestly very little to complain about. It's fair to say that this one doesn't quite hit the heights of some of the director's work into the 80s, but it remains well worth a watch today.

RATING: 7.5/10. Certainly a strange and interesting offering, and a movie that has many of the Cronenberg trademarks before we came to truly know them as Cronenberg trademarks. It's got the odd branch of medicine, the strange creatures and the distinctive element of body horror – if subtler here than you might associate with the director's work. It doesn't smash everything out of the park, but it held my attention all the way through and there's enough good here (especially if you do like the director's work subsequent this one) to ensure it has value investing your time in.

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