the brood

Of all the major horror directors, David Cronenberg has the bleakest world-view, with the vast majority of his films ending as the main character lies dead, dying, absorbed or twitching in a puddle of bodily fluids. But 1979’s The Brood is in a league all its own, inspired by the director’s custody battle during an ugly divorce which he turned into his most personal body-horror nightmare to date.

Dr. Hal Raglan (Oliver Reed) is the originator of “psychoplasmics,” an experimental form of therapy that encourages patients to release their anger and anxiety through actual physical manifestations of their skin; rashes, hives and cancer are the result. But Nola Carveth (Samantha Eggar) is the star of the clinic, giving birth to actual dwarf-sized children who respond to her emotions with deadly results. Her husband, Frank, senses that something is wrong and cuts off his daughter’s visits, which only exacerbates Nola’s feelings of resentment and distress. And soon the brood is unconsciously sent out to reunite her family at all costs.

After the exploitation success of Shivers and Rabid, Cronenberg ups the dramatic ante quite a bit here. Reed and Eggar are actors of a much higher caliber and the director provides them with showy soliloquies, particularly Eggar, that balance out the carnage. But The Brood is a nasty affair, made all the more mean-spirited by the fact that children are involved in nearly every death scene (a kindergarten class forced to witness their teacher’s bludgeoning really pushes the limit). And Cronenberg doubles-down by making it all resonate with his theme of the psychic trauma of divorce.

Like most of the director’s work, this isn’t a simple monster movie…although it was certainly marketed that way. The brood themselves are nothing more than kids in snowsuits – Cronenberg wisely keeps their disfigured faces hidden for most of the film - but the very innocuousness of that image is exactly what makes it so chilling. Shot against a gray winter backdrop, the film is cold, cruel and unrelentingly pessimistic. Yet its also one of the best examples of the horror genre’s adaptability. Kramer vs Kramer, released the same year and dealing with the same issues, may have one an Oscar. But Cronenberg’s twisted vision of divorce is probably more honest.

The Criterion Collection has done some superb work on previous Cronenberg titles and the trend continues with this two-DVD special edition (also available on Blu-ray) featuring a darn-near immaculate transfer even in standard-def. Extras include a 30-minute Making Of that gathers comments from Cronenberg collaborators, interviews with cast members Art Hingle and Cindy Hinds, a can’t-miss episode of The Merv Griffin Show with Oliver Reed, and a 2011 interview with Cronenberg himself. But completists will probably be most excited about a restored 4K digital transfer of the director’s early project Crimes of the Future, which is included along with the main feature. Brainy horror never had it so good!