FREAK FILMS: THE BROOD

David Cronenberg's resume isn't perfect, but it's certainly impressive. He's been building it since his days at the University of Toronto with Stereo (1969) and Crimes Of The Future (1970) and, so far, has ended it with eXistenZ (1999). Most of his films deal with biological horror, whether it's a disease (Rabid, 1977) or a parasite (They Came From Within / Shivers / The Parasite Murders, 1975) or biological/technical phenomenon (Videodrome) and are more than adequately fucked up. Though Naked Lunch certainly is a close second for my favorite Cronenberg flick, The Brood is definitely on top. Dr. Hal Raglan (Oliver Reed, who rocks) has a progressive mental health clinic that practices a technique he developed known as The Shape Of Rage, where patients externalize their rage into icky growths on their bodies like tumors and bumps and cysts (Oh, my!). A patient named Nola Carveth (Samantha Eggar) lives at the clinic in an isolated room and undergoes intense therapy sessions, while her ex-husband Frank (Art Hindle) readies himself for a court battle over their daughter Candice (Cindy Hinds), and some bruises he believes she received from Nola. The truth, however, is far stranger and more sickening than anyone could have imagined. Look for a small part by Robert A. Silverman, who, outside of Prom Night, Jason X (due this year) and Waterworld, has made a career out of Cronenberg, having also been in Scanners, Naked Lunch and eXistenZ. Cronenberg's next film will be Spider, a psychological thriller about a man who attempts to piece together his life after his release from a mental hospital and will star Ralph Fiennes and Miranda Richardson. Shooting in London should start near the end of 2001.