The Brood (1979)

Lists

No lists yet!

Ratings & comments

full starfull starhalf starempty starempty star

These days David Cronenberg is a critical darling so it's amusing to read contemporary reviews, e.g. Roger Ebert:

Now here's a particularly nasty little number. "The Brood" is an el sleazo exploitation film, camouflaged by the presence of several well-known stars but guaranteed to nauseate you all the same.

That's after it bores you first.

Taken at face value, he's quite right: it doesn't work particularly well as horror (the murderous child-things seem more ridiculous than menacing for much of the film) and it seems awfully pretentious for the schlock on display.

It gets more interesting if you take Cronenberg at his word that it's his Kramer vs Kramer -- a divorce movie with emotional pain come horrifically to life. For all that I can appreciate this interpretation, I'm not fully convinced and I'm quite certain it's not worth the slog.

- Sam - 2018-11-25 07:41:25