The Brood

Year: 1979
Director: David Cronenberg
Writer: David Cronenberg
Genre: Horror: Evil children

The Brood has been on my watch list for a few years now. Finally I decided to give it a look and I'm mostly glad I did. For me, I have a really strong interest in horror films revolving around children, or more so, pregnancy. Not sure what that says about me...

Anyway, The Brood takes us into the world of a single father. His ex-wife is confined to a mental institution so he mostly lives as if it is just him and his daughter. After coming home from a visit to her mother, the daughter has marks on her body which the father reads as abuse. From here on, he tries to get sole custody of his daughter. It's too bad that there is a lot more at play in the story than this.

People begin to die around the small family and so the father must figure out what is the root of the matter as well as protect his child. I like seeing father/daughter films because it isn't as popular. I like to see fathers be protective but also loving and sweet to their children. So back to the film then. It is a nice mysterious drama that gets weirder the longer you watch it. Seriously, even after you find out who is doing the killings things continue to get stranger.

I liked the movie. It kept me interested throughout and especially grossed out during the finale. There will probably be a remake of this one day (if there isn't already) and I doubt it will be able to capture the pure disgust I felt during this one. Good stuff.

Rabid

Year: 1977
Director: David Cronenberg
Writer: David Cronenberg
Genre: Horror: Thriller, vampire

Being one of Cronenberg's first feature films, it should be recognized that this is not a Hollywood-class movie. Of course, he never really was in the market for making things with mass market appeal, but his technique definitely has become refined over the years. For reference, Scanners and Videodrome came in the 80s.

I'm not sure how I feel about Rabid. I liked the premise, but I didn't feel very interested in the plight of any of the characters. They were nice and alive-feeling, but I didn't care much whether they lived or died. If I had cared however I think it would have felt more dramatic and enthralling. As is, I felt myself losing concentration again and again as the film went on.

The story is a little creative. A woman and her boyfriend are going out for a joyride on their Harley and get in a horrible crash. The boyfriend is mostly alright but the lady is left to sizzle under the heavy hot metal of the motorcycle. She gets rushed into a plastic surgery clinic (apparently they're the closest hospital) where they perform a new skin graft technique on her.

She lives and seems to have healed up excellently. The only problem is that while the skin graft succeeded, it requires sustenance to stay living. So, the girl ends up having to feed much like a vampire would to survive. Again, if this character had been portrayed differently I really would have cared but I don't. It doesn't even feel like she struggles with the matter of attacking people until it's all too late.

The movie is kind of a zombie-flick too. Although the people are "rabid" and not undead, brain-crazy freaks. Still, I was almost willing to classify this as a zombie flick as well. Anyway, it's an okay movie. Best to watch this one if you're a Cronenberg devotee. For a better skin graft-related film I'd suggest Eyes Without a Face.