Dr. Hal Raglan (The late Oliver Reed) is a controversial psychologist, his work is designed to help release the disturbed emotions in his patients. His star patient Nola (Samantha Eggar) is keep in isolation but her negative emotions are more troubled than expected. Her husband Frank (Art Hindle) suspects that his daughter Candice (Cindy Hinds) is hurt and abused by her mother on visitation days. Frank thinks that Dr. Raglan odd therapy is nothing more than a fraud. He needs proof to destroy his creditability but Frank slowly discovers, there is some brutal murders happening. It seems to happen, when Nola vents her fury during her sessions with Dr. Raglan. Frank needs to discover the truth, what is behind these disturbing killings.
Written and Directed by David Cronenberg (The Dead Zone, The Fly "1986", A History of Violence) made an horrific, sometimes disturbing horror film. The movie starts off as a strong drama, then slowly goes to the unknown. There is terrific performances by the late Reed, Eggar and Hindle. Hinds does a good job as the victim in the film. One of the highlights is the memorable music score by the Three Time Oscar-Winner:Howard Shore (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Se7en, The Silence of the Lambs). The feature is especially well shot by Canadian Cinematographer:Mark Irwin (The Blob "1988", Passenger 57, Scanners).
The DVD is the Uncut Version of the picture. This version runs 92 Minutues, although the DVD Cover is credited as a R-Rated Version. DVD has an sharp anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) transfer and an clean Dolby 2.0 Mono Sound. The only extra is the original theatrical trailer. It would have been nice, if the movie had an running commentary track by the director. Robert A. Silverman has an scene-stealing performance in a supporting role as One of Ralgan's former patients. "The Brood" starts out as a slow-moving drama, then the movie is gets much better with horrific and memorable scares. Certainly one of Cronenberg's most fascinating films. Don't miss it. (****/*****).
