The Brood - Second Sight Limited Edition 4K Blu Ray Release Review
Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar, Art Hindle, Henry Beckman, Susan Hogan
Written by: David Cronenberg
Produced by: Claude Héroux
Cinematography by: Mark Irwin
Original Score by: Howard Shore
Synopsis:
A man tries to uncover an unconventional psychologist's therapy techniques on his institutionalized wife, amidst a series of brutal murders.
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Thoughts:
When you sit down to watch a film by Canadian auteur David Cronenberg, you know you're gonna be in for a good time. Or at the very least you know what you are about to experience will be something you probably won't forget anytime soon. 'The Brood' wouldn't be high up on the list of Cronenberg's best films but it's certainly up there with some of the most demented genre films of the last 50 years.
English screen giant Oliver Reed stars as Dr. Hal Raglan, a sinisterly avant-garde medical expert who runs the Somafree Institute and who experiments on his patients. One of those patients, Nola (Samantha Eggar) is being visited by her daughter Candice (Cindy Hinds) and afterwards her ex-husband Frank (Art Hindle) discovers some concerning bruises on Candice's body. Nola and Frank are currently separated and are in a custody battle for their daughter and obviously this incident could prove to be a huge difference maker in their legal battle.
And then people start being killed. Child-like creatures appear and leave a trail of carnage behind them and in typical Cronenberg fashion there is a lot of blood and grotesque imagery.
'The Brood' is Cronenberg still trying to find his vision and voice but it's probably the film that helped to shape his filmmaking journey the best both visually and metaphorically. The next decade he would go on to make 'Scanners', 'Videodrome', 'The Dead Zone' and 'The Fly' and solidify himself as a titan of horror.
But there's more going on in 'The Brood' than just the bizarre reworking of human bodies and gross killer "kids". Cronenberg addresses the impact that failed marriages can have on children and how the trauma caused by separation can bring monsters out in us all. Not only is young Candice affected by her parents messy custody battle but Nola herself is a victim of childhood abuse. Cronenberg wrote the script while going through his own divorce so you could say that this might be his most personal film to date. It's certainly his most emotional film up to this point in his career.
The script isn't flawless and Cronenberg isn't too concerned with explaining the science behind how Raglan's work influences his patients but the perfomances keep the film going and of course Cronenberg hasn't been labelled the "Master of Body Horror" for nothing. This 4K restoration from physical media legends Second Sight Films highlights all the glorious gore and shocking visuals.
Special Features include a fantastic albeit quite short interview with maestro Howard Shore, a regular Cronenberg collaborator and one of my favourite composers, who tells the story of how he and Cronenberg first came together. Shore always noticed Cronenberg riding his Ducati motorcycle around the neighbourhood in Toronto where they both lived and he found out that David was an amateur filmmaker who shot on 8mm and 16mm. After attending some of his early short film screenings Shore approached Cronenberg and asked if he could work with him. In the wake of the low-budget, visceral double bill 'Shivers' and 'Rapid' being released, the two finally came together to work on 'The Brood' and Shore, working for the first time with a live 21-string orchestra, turned in a classic and chilling horror score, one of the best of his early career.
There's also a fascinating video essay entitled 'Anger Management: Cronenberg's The Brood and the Shapes of Cinematic Rage' which explores different renditions of how anger and rage have been portrayed on the big screen. And as always with these releases there's audio commentaries that add insight into the filming process and thematic issues.
It's disturbing and disgusting and bleak and unforgiving.'The Brood' remains a seminal body horror classic, provocative and still frightening after all these years with a heartbreaking lead performance from Samantha Eggar.
Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
-Gavin Logan
'The Brood' Limited Edition 4K UHD/BluRay & Standard Edition 4k/BluRay are released on March 31st. Available to PRE-ORDER now from Second Sight Films www.secondsightfilms.co.uk