The Brood
Director: David Cronenberg
Year Released: 1979
Rating: 1.5
Commendable ideas from Cronenberg - it contains his usual psychosexual trademarks and an obsession with physiological horror - that do not have a well-conceived story to carry them through (this was the same problem with Scanners). Therapy comes under fire - Oliver Reed's trance-like 'talking cure for rage' mutates his patients' bodies - and the idea of anger manifesting itself in physiological (and mental) diseases is fascinating, but without a talented lead actor or even a realistic villain (Reed's change of heart at the end comes out of nowhere), it's just a long build up to its wild final ten minutes. Leonard Maltin's pan is correct though inconsiderate - he's only describing (at most) three minutes of screen time.
