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The Brood (1979)

 -  Horror | Sci-Fi  -  25 May 1979 (USA)
6.8
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Ratings: 6.8/10 from 11,211 users  
Reviews: 101 user | 105 critic

A man tries to uncover an unconventional psychologist's therapy techniques on his institutionalized wife, while a series of brutal attacks committed by a brood of mutant children coincides with the husband's investigation.

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Title: The Brood (1979)

The Brood (1979) on IMDb 6.8/10

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
Dr. Hal Raglan
...
...
Frank Carveth
Henry Beckman ...
Barton Kelly
Nuala Fitzgerald ...
Juliana Kelly
...
Candice Carveth
...
Ruth Mayer
Gary McKeehan ...
Mike Trellan
Michael Magee ...
Inspector
Robert A. Silverman ...
Jan Hartog (as Robert Silverman)
Joseph Shaw ...
Coroner
Larry Solway ...
Lawyer
Reiner Schwartz ...
Dr. Birkin
...
Creature
John Ferguson ...
Creature
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Storyline

A man's wife is under the care of an eccentric and unconventional psychologist who uses innovative and theatrical techniques to breach the psychological blocks in his patients. When their daughter comes back from a visit with her mother and is covered with bruises and welts, the father attempts to bar his wife from seeing the daughter but faces resistance from the secretive psychologist. Meanwhile, the wife's mother and father are attacked by strangely deformed children, and the man begins to suspect a connection with the psychologist's methods. Written by Ed Sutton <esutton@mindspring.com>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

They're Waiting... For You! See more »

Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Certificate:

R | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

25 May 1979 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

A Ninhada  »

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 1,400,000 (estimated)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

David Cronenberg wrote the film following the tumultuous divorce and child-custody battle he waged against Margaret Hindson. Cronenberg also said that Samantha Eggar's character, Nola Carveth, possessed some of the characteristics of his ex-wife. See more »

Goofs

When Candy is sent away from preschool by "the creatures", she is wearing her pink snowsuit. However, when Frank drops by their home, desperately searching for his daughter, the pink snowsuit is hanging on the cloak hook at the front door. Then again, a few moments later, Candy is wearing it walking down the street with two of "the creatures". See more »

Quotes

Juliana Kelly: Thirty seconds after you're born you have a past and sixty seconds after that you begin to lie to yourself about it.
See more »

Connections

Featured in Nightmare in Canada: Canadian Horror on Film (2004) See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Cronenberg Grows

A very personal film for Cronenberg who was going through a divorce during the time of its making, The Brood has all the Cronenbergian motifs, plus great characterisation and a great performance from all involved.

Dr. Raglan (Oliver Reed) who is experimenting with metaphysical rage runs the Summerfree Institute. There he encourages his patience to indulge in allowing their inner anger to materialise in warts and blisters on their body. One of his patience is the demented Nola (Samantha Eggar) who has taken Raglan's therapy to the next stage. Her rage is apparently so potent that it results in The Brood, a savage group of dwarfs that emerge from the cysts on Nola's body. Unfortunately, Nola has another child, Candy and when her ex-husband, Frank (Art Hindle) finds that his wife is too unstable to look after their child he suppresses parental access. Nola goes even more insane and the brood ventures out to kill all those she believes have or may cause her harm. Although the carnage isn't excessively violent, the scene where Nola produces one of the dwarfs from a bloody sack and licks it clean leaves a nasty aftertaste.

Cronenberg has long been associated with fear of biological change, but is surprising that not many have picked up on his fascination, or dread of organisations. There's the Starliner Towers (Shivers), Keloid Clinic (Rabid), Summerfree Institute (The Brood), ConSec (Scanners), Spectacular Optical (Videodrome), Bartok Industries (The Fly), The Mantle Clinic (Dead Ringers), PildrImage Manufacturers (eXsistenZ).


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wild birth scenes westing000
the warts blairandrade-1
Some of the acting sucked, but some of the acting was SUPERB! clearbluepeace
something wrong about the film! did u notice? theturcho
What's the deal? REDNECK_ZOMBIE
This is what I call a horror movie! davidreynolds22
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