The Brood (1979)

Director:

David Cronenberg

Writer:

David Cronenberg (written by)

Release Date:

25 May 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The Ultimate Experience Of Inner Terror

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Children | Mutant | Dead Children | Grindhouse | Midget

Awards:

1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Oliver Reed	...	Dr. Hal Raglan
Samantha Eggar	...	Nola Carveth
Art Hindle	...	Frank Carveth
Henry Beckman	...	Barton Kelly
Nuala Fitzgerald	...	Juliana Kelly
Cindy Hinds	...	Candice Carveth
Susan Hogan	...	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
Felix Silla	...	Creature
John Ferguson	...	Creature

Also Known As:

David Cronenberg's The Brood (Canada: English title) (complete title)
La clinique de la terreur (Canada: French title)

Runtime:

92 min | Canada:90 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | Netherlands:16 | UK:X (theatrical rating) | Portugal:M/16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:18 | Italy:VM18 | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:R | France:-16 | UK:18 | USA:R | Norway:18 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Magder Studio, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC)

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.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the climactic scenes at the shed, the blood stains on the lapel of Frank's jacket disappear and reappear.

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Fly Papers: The Buzz on Hollywood's Scariest Insect (2000) (TV)

The Dwarfs of Wrath...

Another brilliant early David Cronenberg horror film, subtly stuffed with sexual obsessions and social criticism as it was also the case in "Shivers" and "Rabid", only the idea of this film is even more original and the tension is more overwhelming. "The Brood" quite often is a genuinely terrifying horror-highlight with grueling special effects as well as truly disturbing social themes. Cronenberg's own and intelligently written script once again focuses on humans' defining "inner-evil" (it's his hobby-horse) and blends real-life issues like child abuse and psychiatric patients with adorable low-budget horror topics such as mad scientists and eerie mutant killers. Nola Carveth is one of sinister Dr. Hal Raglan's "Psychoplasmics" patients that unleash their hatred through physical manifestations, like rashes or tumors. But Nola is an extreme case so her outbursts are also far more extreme than the other patients and she produces malicious dwarfs that kill everyone who comes near her husband and 5-year-old daughter Candy. The premise of "The Brood" sounds absurd and incredibly far-fetched but, believe me, it's alarmingly convincing and scary. Roger Ebert was wrong (again) when he claimed this is a boring waste of time. The guy simply doesn't know horror! The last 15 minutes are effectively nauseating, perhaps a little too controversial for some people, and the evil children are petrifying. What is it with little people that makes them so uncanny? "The Brood" is less gore than Cronenberg's previous two films (the aforementioned "Shivers" and Rabid") but the killings are nevertheless nasty and that one sequence inside the kindergarten classroom is more than enough to skyrocket the shock-value of this film. Horror/exploitation veteran Oliver Reed is sublime as the overly ambitious Dr. Raglan. Excellent stuff, David Cronenberg was (and still is) a genius filmmaker!