THE BROOD (1979) (Second Sight Film Blu-ray Review)

THE BROOD (1979)

Label: Second Sight Films
Release Date: July 8th 2013
Rating: Cert: 18
Duration: 92 Minutes
Region Code: B
Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: English LPCM 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
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 nutty wife was involved with, plus a bitter divorce. That personal pain all here on screen in some twisted way and his own personal pain informs the movie quite a bit.

Frank Cavareth's (Art Hindle, Black Christmas) estranged wife Nola (Samanatha Eggar) is at the Somefree Institute run by psychologist Hal Raglan (Oliver Reed) 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 horrific side effects, 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, she's pretty fucked up and her demons are physically manifesting themselves in the material world.

Nola's five year-old daughter Candice remains with her mother at the Institute and on weekends Frank takes her home to his place. One such visit with his daughter reveals bruising and welts on her backside, disturbed by the discovery and fearing abuse from her nutty mom he threatens to revoke the disturbed mother's visitation rights, which upsets her and Raglan quite a bit. 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 children whom bare peculiar anatomical anomalies. As the attacks continue Frank starts to believes they are somehow linked to Nola and her therapy at Somafree.

The Brood is a creepy film, it's not exactly oozing with blood and guts but the attacks are quite satisfying, both Nola's mother 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, which was pretty brave, nowadays it be hard to pull that off and get away with it. The deformed kids abduct Candice which leads to an intense finale at the Somafree Institute with one Hell of a grotesque birthing scene, this is a 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.

Cronenberg was fresh off Shivers (1975) and Rabid (1976) and The Brood (1979) was definitely his most polished film to date with some help from cinematographer Mark Irwin, 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), the effects are somewhat cheap looking but effective just the samwe. There's not a lot of gore for the fiends but that birthing scene towards the end is still a stunner, it's grotesque and gooey.

There's some nice performances onscreen, 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 is very convincing. Then there's Samantha Eggar (The Exterminator) as the distressed and unhinged mother, plus Oliver Reed (Burnt Offerings) who's quite intense and brooding, always a roguish leading man he's still quite a presence onscreen as the psychologist treating Nola.

Audio/Video: Second Sight Films get a second bite at the David Cronenberg apple following their recent Blu-ray release of the director's next film Scanners (1981). The Brood is presented in 1080p widescreen (1.85:1) with an AVC encode and it's quite an attractive region 'B' locked Blu-ray. Sourced for a very nice print the image is strong, colors are robust and black levels are nice and deep. The 1080p upgrade affords it some modest fine detail and some decent depth and clarity, a very nice transfer.

The English language LPCM 2.0 Stereo audio sounds very nice, dialogue and effects are crisp and well balanced, plus Howard Shore's (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) sounds fantastic, the intense string arrangements really ramp up the tension and atmosphere, very nice.

Special features come by way of Severin Films who did a bang-up job with Second Sight's Scanners (1981) edition and I think they've one-upped themselves here with no only retrospective interview with cast and crew but with David Cronenberg whom was absent on the scanners features.

First up is the MEET THE CARVETHS (19:48) 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 fn interview with Hindle recalling working with Oliver Reed and some of his Scotch induced hi jinx both on and off set, Hinds even recalling Reed pilfering her mother's bottle of cognac.

THE LOOK OF RAGE (13:33) is a fun on-camera interview with cinematographer Mark Irwin which looks to be culled from the same interview session as the Scanners featurette. Irwin 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.

We get a new interview with producer Pierre David PRODUCING THE BROOD (11:10) also pulled from the same interview session as Scanners. David reflects 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, he of course also mentions working with wild man Oliver Reed.

CHARACTER FOR CRONENBERG (10:24) is an interview with actor Robert A. Silverman (Prom Night) whom 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.

CRONENBERG: THE EARLY YEARS (13:15) has the Writer/Director David 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.

Special Features:
- MEET THE CARVETHS (19:48)
- THE LOOK OF RAGE (13:33)
- PRODUCING THE BROOD (11:10)
- CHARACTER FOR CRONENBERG (10:24)
- CRONENBERG: THE EARLY YEARS(13:15)

Verdict: There's so much great stuff in Cronenberg's filmography and The Brood (1979) gets short shrift compared to Scanners (1981), Videodrome (1983) and The Fly (1986). I personally prefer both of his earlier films Shivers (1975) and Rabid (1977) to this, not to knock it, this is still a powerful and creepy little thriller with some strong performances and a very bizarre ending, it holds up. 

DVD Review: THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1991)

THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1991)  

LABEL: Echo Bridge Home Entertainment
REGION CODE: 1 NTSC
RATING: R
DURATON: 97 mins
VIDEO: Fullscreen (1.33:1)
AUDIO: English Dolby Digital Stereo
DIRECTOR: Stuart Gordon
CAST: Lance Henriksen, Rona De Ricci, Jonathan Fuller, Jeffrey Combs, Tom Towels, Stephen Lee, Frances Bay, Oliver Reed
TAGLINE: A Bizarre Descent Into Hell from the Creator of Re-Animator

In the year 1492 the Spanish Inquisition is in full swing under the unrelenting direction of Torquemada (Lance Henriksen, NEAR DARK). Old Torque is the Grand Inquisitor of Spain and he's reaping a swath of terror forcing tortured confessions from suspected blasphemers by the thousands. A sweet pre-credit sequence bares witness to the outrageous act of Torquemada unearthing the dried up corpse of a blasphemer and whipping the withered carcass until it falls to pieces. The bones are then ground into fine dust and placed into an over-sized hour glass. It's over-the-top, and while you're recovering from that nasty bit of business cue a pretty fantastic Richard Band (TERRORVISION, RE-ANIMATOR) score and prepare for some dark and lurid religious persecution from Charles Band's Full Moon Entertainment and the 80's Master of Horror Stuart Gordon

A simple baker named Antonio (Jonathan Fuller, CASTLE FREAK) and his amorous young wife Maria (Rona De Ricci) make their way to the city center to sell their bread when they come upon a boisterous crowd gathered to witness the auto de fe, the whipping of a suspected witch. When the woman's son is brought forth to be punished Maria cannot bare to remain silent and speaks out against the cruelty of the Church which raises the ire of the Inquisitor and his priests, she is falsely accused of witchcraft and imprisoned.

When brought before the Inquisitor she is stripped nude, humiliated and searched for the "devil's mark", when none are found one is imagined, 'natch. During the examination Torquemada is overwhelmed with lustful desire for the young woman, naturally, she's quite stunning. Par for the course for the overly pious he cannot own up to his own sinful desires and assumes the attraction is the result of witchcraft, his lust proving to be her damnation. She's tossed in a prison cell alongside an old woman named Esmeralda played by Frances Bay (WILD AT HEART) who is one of the greatest old lady actresses you will ever see, right up there with Cloris Leachman (YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN). The hag just so happens to be a confessed witch though more of the Wicca variety than the eye of newt cauldron boiler.

Antonio desperate to rescue the woman he loves infiltrates the impenetrable castle walls with the help of Torquemada's henchmen Gomez (Stephen Lee, DOLLS) only to be betrayed, imprisoned and tortured before his wife's eyes in an attempt to force her own confession. The torture in the film is pretty effective, we have water torture, the rack, whippings, impalement and a new contraption that Torquemada unleashes upon Antonio which gives the film it's name, a spike-laden pit and the razor sharp pendulum.

Torquemada as played by Henriksen is a tortured soul who is truly a sight to behold with his skull cap and craggy face really cranking up the inner turmoil of a man in service to the Lord who is so clearly corrupted by desires of the flesh. Henriksen throws in just the right amount of camp into the performance, it's a thin line but he really sells it without teetering off the deep end, great stuff. Also putting forth great performances are Jonathan Fuller as the desperate husband and Stuart Gordon regular Jeffrey Combs (CASTLE FREAK, FROM BEYOND) as Torquemada's snivelling records keeper who logs confessions into a ledger, it's not a huge part but his presence throughout the film was appreciated.

The cash-strapped production makes great use of an existing centuries old castle. Obviously a film of limited means the set design and decoration is sparse but effective. The interiors are dark, dank, full of cobwebs and skeletal remains which really amp up the atmosphere as does the great period costuming.

There's a chance gore-fiends may be disappointed that the grue is not in abundance but Stuart Gordon, whose known for some classic splatter in film like the RE-ANIMATOR and FROM BEYOND, applies his touch effectively and with moderation using low-budget techniques to great effect. Even without rampant bloodletting the torture scenes made me squirm in my seat, when the water torture is applied  to a victim the gurgled choking sounds brought up the goose flesh on my neck as did Torquemada jamming his index fingers through the fresh crucifixion wounds of another and twisting.

The one aspect of the film that didn't work for me was the witch Esmeralda training Maria to tap into her inner-power - whatever that is, which more fully emerges during the film's finale. It felt under developed and just didn't work for me but it's not ruinous to the film either, so no harm no foul. Two scenes that completely knocked my socks off were the final confrontation between Torquemada and Antonio, it's action-packed, tense and full of blood-thirsty rats plus the titular pit and pendulum, of course. On par with that is Esmeralda's death scene as she is carted off the be burned at the stake she consumes mass quantities of gunpowder from a keg that conveniently just happens to be nearby. She stuffs herself with the combustible powder and when she's burning alive at the stake cursing the gathered onlookers she explodes, injuring dozens with bone-shrapnel, brilliant.   

DVD: Full Moon Entertainment have a long history of poor DVD presentation and this Echo Bridge Entertainment licensed release will do little to dissuade that perception. While advertised widescreen on the DVD case it is in fact a fullframe presentation and likely the same master from the previous OOP DVD edition. It's a dirty washed out print on par with a VHS release cursed with rampant noise and compression issues, very shallow with no depth and fuzziness in lieu of fine detail. Audio consists of English language Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo that likewise is unremarkable in all respects with no subtitles. While the audio and PQ leaves much to be desired I'm pleased to see the film back on DVD and in the hands of fans. A nifty bonus is that the film comes with a digital copy that can be played on mp3 device and PC's.

VERDICT: Easily one of the finest films in the Full Moon canon with a juicy performance from Lance Henriksen who tears it up as the twisted Inquisitor, this may just be my favorite Henriksen film and should it be mentioned in the same breath as NEAR DARK and ALIENS in my opinion. I give this a high recommend, a must-own. With THE PUPPET MASTER and SUBSPECIES making their way to Blu-ray I would love to see THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM get an brand new restored 1080p HD upgrade. Charles Band, if you're reading this please make it happen.