The Brood
Last night I saw the disturbing horror movie, The Brood, from David Cronenberg. Filmed in 1979, the movie remains one very creepy film. The movie stars Oliver Reed as Dr. Raglan, Samantha Eggar as Nola, Art Hindle as Frank and Cindy Hinds as Candice. Cronenberg is very effective in being creepy -- he uses the music and tension of the film to scare, without having to show the actual "brood." The Brood itself isn't frightening -- Cronenberg's use of them however, is. He pulls you in, building up the tension to such a degree that it becomes difficult to watch at times. The cinematography, music, acting -- everything about this film was just great. It's a classic, a masterpiece.
In the film, Frank is growing distant from his institutionalized wife, Nola, who is undergoing psychiatric treatment by Dr. Raglan -- a psychiatrist who employs some unconventional techniques that makes patients relive and confront their emotions. Nola has visitation rights at Raglan's clinic with her young daughter, Candice. Frank thinks Raglan is a fraud, and his concerns increases when he notices scratches and bite marks on Candice after a visit with her mother. Apparently, Raglan's treatments of Nola is manifesting her emotions in the form of a horde of deformed children that grow from her body, responding to her emotions and going on a murdering spree against those who anger their "mother." As Nola relives her past, her brood follows through and lashes out with her anger. No one is safe -- not her parents, her husband, and apparently, not even her young daughter.
As creepy as Nola's brood are, so is Cronenberg's exploration of Nola's past -- a past filled with emotional violence, childhood abuse from her mother, and the indifference from her father to it all. Samantha Eggar pulls off a quite disturbed Nola. As scary as Nola is, you also can't help but feel a bit sympathetic for her plight. She's a lost cause, and Frank is no help, as he doesn't understand her. Frank's only goal is to save his little daughter from her mother.
In the film, Frank is growing distant from his institutionalized wife, Nola, who is undergoing psychiatric treatment by Dr. Raglan -- a psychiatrist who employs some unconventional techniques that makes patients relive and confront their emotions. Nola has visitation rights at Raglan's clinic with her young daughter, Candice. Frank thinks Raglan is a fraud, and his concerns increases when he notices scratches and bite marks on Candice after a visit with her mother. Apparently, Raglan's treatments of Nola is manifesting her emotions in the form of a horde of deformed children that grow from her body, responding to her emotions and going on a murdering spree against those who anger their "mother." As Nola relives her past, her brood follows through and lashes out with her anger. No one is safe -- not her parents, her husband, and apparently, not even her young daughter.
As creepy as Nola's brood are, so is Cronenberg's exploration of Nola's past -- a past filled with emotional violence, childhood abuse from her mother, and the indifference from her father to it all. Samantha Eggar pulls off a quite disturbed Nola. As scary as Nola is, you also can't help but feel a bit sympathetic for her plight. She's a lost cause, and Frank is no help, as he doesn't understand her. Frank's only goal is to save his little daughter from her mother.
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