THE BROOD (1979)
Label: Second Sight Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 92 Minutes 9 Seconds
Audio: English PCM 1.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Dolby Vision HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: David Cronenberg
Cast: Oliver Reeed, Samantha Eggar, Art Hindle, Cindy Hinds
Director David Cronenberg poured his personal life into this creepily horrific thriller, having had to forcefully remove his own daughter from the clutches of a cult his wife was involved with, followed by a bitter divorce. That personal pain is all here on screen, in some twisted way it's his own personal pain and experience that informs the movie, to truly disturbing effect.
In it Frank Cavareth's (Art Hindle, Black Christmas) estranged wife Nola (Samanatha Eggar, Curtains) is at the Somefree Institute run by psychologist Hal Raglan (Oliver Reed, Paranoiac) whom treats patients with mental illness with a controversial therapy that involves intense role-playing/ regression sessions designed to unleash suppressed emotional disturbances, not unlike the primal scream therapy, only with unintended horrific side effects, which we will get to in a bit. It turns out that as a young girl Nola was abused by her alcoholic mother and her father wasn't much help either, now an adult she carries around the mental scars of an abusive upbringing. In short she's pretty fucked up and due to the unusual therapy treatment her rage-filled demons are physically manifesting themselves in the material world.
Nola's five year-old daughter Candice(Cindy Hinds, The Dead Zone) remains with her mother at the Institute and on weekends Frank takes her home to his place. On one such visit with his daughter he is horrified to discover bruising and welts on her backside, disturbed by the discovery and fearing abuse from her disturbed mother he threatens to revoke her mother's visitation rights, which upsets her and Raglan. Now things get strange, those whom Nola's has animosity toward are murdered in a series of brutal attacks perpetrated by what appear to be deformed and demonic looking children. As the attacks continue Frank starts to believe that they are somehow linked to Nola and the therapies at Somafree.
The Brood is a creepy film, it's not exactly oozing with blood and guts, nonetheless the attacks are visceral and quite violent. Both Nola's mother (Nuala Fitzgerald, Deadly Harvest) and father are brutally beaten to death, also murdered is a school teacher whom shows some concern for Candice, two deformed pint-sized killers beat her to death in front of a roomful of screaming students! The deformed dwarfs abduct Candice which leads to an intense finale at the Somafree Institute with one Hell of a grotesque birthing and baby-licking scene!
Cronenberg was fresh off Shivers (1975) and Rabid (1976) when he made The Brood (1979), and it was definitely his most polished film to date, with some help from cinematographer Mark Irwin (Night School), it's a great looking feature. The creepy dwarf killers are caught mostly in quick glimpses but feature some disturbing facial appliances and clawed hands from special make-up effects man Jack H. Young who worked on everything from the Wizard of Oz (1939) right up to Used Cars (1980), with Felix Silla (Spaceballs), playing the main demon-dwarf. There's not a lot of gore for the fiends but that birthing scene at the end is still a stunner, it's grotesque and gooey in all the right ways.
There's some excellent performances here as well, first and foremost is Art Hindle (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) as the caring father, his desperate plight to save his daughter from her demented mother hots me harder the older I get. Then there's Samantha Eggar (The Exterminator) as the distressed and unhinged mother, she's so good, plus Oliver Reed (Venom) who's quite intense and brooding presence as the the psychologist treating Nola. The Brood is a very suspenseful film with some great tension building from the very start, it's Cronenberg so you know to at least expect some potent body horror and the film does not disappoint on any level. I think this is easily one of Cronenberg's most emotionally resonant films, channeling a dark chapter of his own life into something that is both deeply felt as well as being a potent slice of body-horror that will make your skin crawl.
Audio/Video: The Brood (1979) arrives on 4K Ultra HD from Second Sight Films, presenting the film in 2169p Ultra HD framed in 1.85:1 widescreen, with both Dolby Vision and HDR10 WCG color-grade, approved by director David Cronenberg. The source looks phenomenal, spotless with tight, uniform grain structures and pleasing amounts of texture and fine detail. Colors looks wonderful, the WCG color-grade offering a much warmer and richer than the Criterion disc. The 70' fashions look terrific, skin tones are warm and supple, and black levels are deep and inky. The English LPCM 1.0 mono audio sounds terrific, the mono track is clean and free of hiss or distortion, dialogue and effects are crisp and well balanced, plus Howard Shore's (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) sounds fantastic, the sparsely intense string arrangements really ramp up the tension and atmosphere. Curiously, the previous Second Sight Films Blu-ray from 2013 had a dual-mono track as opposed to the 1.0 found here.
This Second Sight Films 4K Ultra HD is well-stocked with extras both new and archival. Archival extras include the 20-min Meet the Carveths featuring actors Art Hindle and Cindy Hinds interviewed by Fangoria Editor Chris Alexander at filmed at the Projection Booth Theatre in Canada. It's a fun interview with Hindle recalling working with Oliver Reed and some of his Scotch induced hijinks both on and off set, Hinds even recalling Reed pilfering her mother's bottle of cognac during the wrap party. Other topics discussed include memories of working with screen legends Eggar and Reed, describing Eggar as a bit cool and distant. They also discuss what it was like working with Cronenberg, his way of inducing what he needed from the child actor, the director telling Hindle how he dreamt up the body horror elements. They also touch on shooting some of the bloodier, violent scenes, and at a certain point they move the interview from the Projection Booth cinema to just outside he school where the film was shot, and both talking about the first time they saw the actual film.
In the 14-min The Look of Rage, an interview with cinematographer Mark Irwin, he talks about meeting David while filming the AIP drag racing tribute film Fast Company (1979) and having written a thesis on Cronenberg's early films prior to meeting him. He also touches on working with Oliver Reed and his infamous liquid lunches plus Samantha Eggar whom he recalls turned into a candy sculpture during the filming of the birthing scene.
The 11-min interview with producer Pierre David, Producing The Brood, features the producer reflecting on that period of time in Canada when investors were falling over themselves to finance Canadian film due to a tax shelter from the Canadian government. He goes into working with Cronenberg on the three films they did together and how that partnership sorta fell apart when he couldn't quite warp his head around Cronenberg's idea for Naked Lunch, and he of course also mentions working with wild man Oliver Reed.
In the 10-min Character for Cronenberg, an interview with actor Robert A. Silverman (Prom Night), the actor recalls a devastating car accident which left him an invalid and his miraculous recovery followed by a move to L.A. to pursue acting and his subsequent meeting with Cronenberg.
More archival goodies come by way of the 13-min Croneneberg: The Early Years with Cronenberg discussing his early career following his first two short films, working with adult film distributors turned financiers Cinepix on his first feature length film Shivers (1975) and having a hard time financing Rabid (1977) following a scathing review in Canadian press, plus horror's eternal place in cinema.
New is the 8-min Scoring The Brood: an interview with composer Howard Shore, how he met and started working with Cronenberg, first collaborating on The Brood. He talks about his technique for scoring film, how he sketches the music based on his feelings while watching the film, recording this score with a 21-string Orchestra live and rather quickly
Also new is the 23-min Anger Management: Cronenberg's The Brood and the Shapes of Cinematic Rage - a video essay by Leigh Singer that examines how this manifestation of rage in The Brood compares to other films with similar rage themes, making interesting contrast and comparisons to Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, Ang Lee's The Hulk, Brian de Palma's Carrie.
We also get an archival Audio Commentary by William Beard that is carried over from the 2013 Second Sight Blu-ray, plus a brand new Audio Commentary by Martyn Conterio and Kat Ellinger.
This single-disc standard release version of The Brood from Second Sight Films arrives in an black keepcase with a single-sided sleeve featuring a striking portrait of Eggar's character by artist Krishna Shenoi.
Special Features:
• Dual format edition including both UHD and Blu-ray with main feature and bonus features on both discs
• UHD presented in HDR with Dolby Vision
• New Audio Commentary by Martyn Conterio and Kat Ellinger
• Audio Commentary by William Beard
• Meet the Carveths: an interview with actors Art Hindle & Cindy Hinds by Fangoria editor Chris Alexander (19:48)
• Producing The Brood: an interview with executive producer Pierre David (11:10)
• Look of Rage: an interview with cinematographer Mark Irwin (13:33)
• Scoring The Brood: an interview with composer Howard Shore (7:51)
• Character for Cronenberg: an interview with actor Robert A Silverman (10:24)
• Anger Management: Cronenberg's The Brood and the Shapes of Cinematic Rage - a video essay by Leigh Singer (22:27)
• Cronenberg: The Early Years - an archival interview with David Cronenberg (13:16)
• Dual format edition including both UHD and Blu-ray with main feature and bonus features on both discs
• UHD presented in HDR with Dolby Vision
• New Audio Commentary by Martyn Conterio and Kat Ellinger
• Audio Commentary by William Beard
• Meet the Carveths: an interview with actors Art Hindle & Cindy Hinds by Fangoria editor Chris Alexander (19:48)
• Producing The Brood: an interview with executive producer Pierre David (11:10)
• Look of Rage: an interview with cinematographer Mark Irwin (13:33)
• Scoring The Brood: an interview with composer Howard Shore (7:51)
• Character for Cronenberg: an interview with actor Robert A Silverman (10:24)
• Anger Management: Cronenberg's The Brood and the Shapes of Cinematic Rage - a video essay by Leigh Singer (22:27)
• Cronenberg: The Early Years - an archival interview with David Cronenberg (13:16)
Cronenberg's The Brood (1979) is a creepy and at times quite grotesque body-horror thriller with strong performances from Hindle, Reed and Eggar. I still think that this is one of the Cronenberg flicks that gets overlooked just a little bit, and it's worth re-visiting, as it packs both a visceral and emotional punch that stays with you, especially on an emotional level, which is not something I would say about a lot of Cronenberg films. The new 4K UHD from Second Sight Films is truly a stunner, the new director approved 4K restoration looks fantastic, and the new and archival extras offer a wealth of insights, this release comes highly recommended.
Buy it!
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