The Brood | 
 enlarge | Director: David Cronenberg
Actors: Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar, Art Hindle, Henry Beckman, Nuala Fitzgerald
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $2.97
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Rating:  40 reviews
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 92 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 100483
ISBN: 0792857380
UPC: 027616888501
EAN: 9780792857389
Theatrical Release Date: May 25, 1979
Release Date: August 26, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: New! Mint in case. Factory sealed.
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Product Description
From famed writer-director David Cronenberg (The Dead Zone The Fly) comes a chillingly twisted masterpiece of psychological horror. Oliver Reed (Gladiator) and Samantha Eggar (The Astronaut's Wife) star in this shocking intense thriller about how misdirected rage can literally take on a life of its own.Behind the walls of his secluded Somafree Institute Dr. Hal Raglan (Reed) experiments with "Psychoplasmics" a controversial therapy designed to help release pent-up emotions in his patients. He keeps his star patient Nola (Eggar) in isolation but as she vents her fury during their sessions brutal murders befall the people she's angry with outside the institute. What is the connection between Raglan's methods and these monstrous killings? The answer will unleash a whole new breed of terror!System Requirements:Starring: Oliver Reed Samantha Eggar Directed By: David Cronenberg Running Time: 92 Min. Color Copyright 2003 MGM Studios.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: NR UPC: 027616888501 Manufacturer No: 100483
Amazon.com
Arguably the best and most personal of director David Cronenberg's early films, The Brood is an extremely unsettling horror film about familial disintegration and emotional trauma taken to a monstrous extreme. Art Hindle (Black Christmas) stars as a man embroiled in a bitter custody struggle with his estranged wife (Samantha Eggar), who is undergoing therapy at psychiatrist Oliver Reed's controversial institute. Reed's treatment causes his patients to give form to their inner conflicts, and Eggar--whose psyche is at the boiling point from childhood abuse as well as the custody trial--creates a horde of homicidal humanoid children who enact bloody revenge on anyone who has threatened their "mother." Cronenberg's first feature with name actors and composer Howard Shore has its share of gruesome moments, but the film's subtext--how emotional violence impacts a family--is its most chilling aspect. --Paul Gaita
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| Customer Reviews: Read 35 more reviews...
 Not that good October 9, 2008
Darrick Dishaw (Madison, WI)
just watched it a couple nights ago. aside from a couple decent performances, a few intriguing ideas and sufficient blood during the death scenes, this film was barely watchable.
i'm not a huge Cronenberg fan, but like some of his movies. i rank The Brood towards the bottom of his catalog.
D
 Don't Make Me Angry. You Wouldn't Like My Children When I'm Angry. September 27, 2008
E K Maxmias (Close enough to Detroit!)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Too bad Bill Bixby isn't alive anymore. This film could have used some "mean green" excitement in it. Not that I don't appreciate Cronenberg's work, but this film is just too boring. Oh, I can hear it from "Brood" fans now; "You don't know what your talking about you shallow, simple minded ignoramus putts!!" they might say. Well, let's just see how little I know...
-CRAZY PEOPLE; IT TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE.
Of course that's the opposite of true. Crazy people are usually the last to know. However, Cronenberg could put an argument together. Most of us "normal" people (and I say that with the greatest suspicion) have very deep dark thoughts of violence, perversion and debauchery that we usually keep down in the deep dark places of our minds. We rarely visit these places except when we're watching some wacked-out horror film or reading something of similar genre. Otherwise, we keep the place locked and the lights out. Cronenberg's dark place is much deeper and darker than ours but he keeps the lights on and is a frequent shopper. This man can truly bring nightmares to life. This film definitely explores the darkness of the mind but doesn't make much of a nightmare.
-PSYCHOS BABBLE PSYCHOBABBLE.
Rubber baby buggy bumpers (it just seamed the natural thing to do, sorry)! This is precisely why some people like this film and others, like me, found it over-long. "The Brood" spends about 70% of its length exploring family violence and it's affects on how anger manifests itself as it is related to that violence. As we plod along, we are given hints of what is at the heart of mysterious beating deaths. I would never say we didn't need to hear this stuff or that it can't be interesting; it's just not necessary or interesting when it's repeated over and over for 60 minutes. I actually understood the concept the first 3 times you told me!! The time spent on this subject as it related to the films story could have been cut to 20 minutes with no ill affect at all in my opinion.
-HEY LETS GO FOR A DRIVE... ...AGAIN!!
I thought this film killed too much time with psychobabble, but you should see how much meaningless time we spend on the road; UGH!!!
-AT 40 MINUTES THIS IS A GOOD MOVIE.
Honestly, I'm ready to chop more than half this movie away. But far be it from me to not argue with myself. What if we actually chopped away all that extra serious talk of anger's manifestation and the lovely car drives? I suspect the consequence would be that what remained would appear more comical than intended. I would probably enjoy it though because there's some pretty creepy stuff going on here and it's professionally executed. The actors (whose names I will avoid to save space) were seasoned professionals and lent credibility to the film. I don't want to hear any excuses of low budget; this film had all the budget it needed.
-YOU SAY PLAUSIBLE, I SAY PLAUSIBLAH!!(spoilage)
Honestly, if you argue about the plausibility of a horror film's premise, then you should just go away. That said; the premise of this film has huge plausibility problems. This is why it would be comical if you cut what I suggested. So, Cronenberg's deep psychological study would become a semi-campy B-movie. I don't mind serious horror films but this really isn't one at its heart, though it wants you to believe it is. The entire concept of birthin' bludgeoning anger babies who kill people with little toy hammers is just too ludicrous to take seriously. Yet, if more time was spent with the uber-creepy anger-babies and their toy hammers, I might not have gotten so bored. I will admit that it's almost worth enduring the elongated redundancies of this film just to get to the juicy ending; a serious peek at Cronenberg's dark mind.
-DIAGNOSIS
"The Brood" is a film that won't appeal to everyone. If you enjoy a very slow reveal of a killer's psychological "makeup" then this will do it for you. There are seriously creepy moments (too few and far between for me) and very little gore (though some nice fake blood is smeared around). The ending is a shocker though it really brings into question why this film took itself so seriously to begin with. I thought the story was well thought out and original but did not enjoy it very much due to what I see as padding of the story with overwrought psychobabble and driving in cars with serious faces. The acting and production values were first rate. The DVD is good enough with no extras worth talking about. I would never call this a bad movie. If you've seen this and think you like it, I would challenge you to watch it again without interruption or distraction and see how much you enjoy it then. I don't know if I ever will watch this in its entirety again. I'll just skip to the anger-babies.
Concept.......5 stars
Story...........2 Stars
Acting.........4 Stars
Visuals.........4 Stars
Enjoyment.....2 stars
Average........3.4 Stars
The Brood delivers quality Cronenberg September 8, 2008
Sir Moneybags McBigballs the 3rd (Oxfordvilletonshireburg)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you're looking for a gore-fest a-la "The Thing" you might be disappointed with Cronenberg's surprisingly muted "The Brood". Though there is some blood letting in this film, the episodes of violence are relatively few and far between. Only one scene stands out as a true gross-out moment, but you'll have to watch until the film's final minutes to see it.
True fans of Cronenberg's will find plenty of the filmmaker's emerging talent on display here. As in "Dead Ringers" the truly tense and unsettling moments revolve around mental derangement rather than physical mutilation. Cronenberg focuses on a seemingly typical family and the forces that bring about the demise of the family unit, both literally and figuratively.
Frank (Hindle) must care for his maladjusted daughter, Candice, while his wife Nola (Eggar) undergoes a controversial psychotherapy treatment at the clinic of Doctor Raglan (Reed). As Raglan probes the childhood trauma and adult paranoia that led to Nola's deteriorating mental state, her rage manifests itself upon those she blames for her troubles in the form of disfigured child-creatures.
Cronenberg deftly crafts an increasingly unsettling atmosphere and
the solid acting by the cast carries the narrative through the slower segments. Some viewers will be agitated by the long pauses in the action, but others will enjoy the "pyschotherapy" sessions that make up the majority of the interim.
My one complaint with the film is that Raglan's experimental therapy is never sufficiently explained. We are asked to accept it's extraordinary powers of transformation at face value for the film to work, but the concept is tenuously suggested, at best. Also, the familial dysfunction and paranoia which give rise to Nola's enormous anger struck me as relatively pedestrian. Once again, we are asked to simply accept the unreasonable magnitude of her rage or else the story doesn't work.
These are minor complaints in a film that I think deserves a larger modern audience. New initiates to Cronenberg may want to look into "Videodrome" (for his trademark body transformations) or his masterpiece "Dead Ringers" before delving into this one simply because they like other horror movies. However, if you're looking for a more intelligent thriller, then this one is a solid addition to any collection.
After Watching "The Brood," You'll Think Twice About Going To A Psychiatrist For Anger Management March 26, 2008
J. B. Hoyos (Chesapeake, VA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
"The Brood" is a cold, creepy psychological horror film. This David Cronenberg masterpiece was shot against a dreary, snow blanketed Canadian background. Oliver Reed (star of Dan Curtis`s "Burnt Offerings" and a host of Hammer films including "Paranoiac"), Samantha Eggar ("Curtains" and "The Collector"), and Art Hindle (the original "Black Christmas") comprise a stellar 70s cast that provide great performances. There are several graphic, gory murder scenes. One in particular is the controversial clubbing death of a teacher in front of her traumatized kindergarten students.
Oliver is a celebrated, but insane, psychiatrist; his beautiful patient, Eggar, is the subject of his latest experiment. It seems that Oliver has been able to assist Eggar in expelling her pent up rage by allowing it to take on a physical manifestation. A manifestation that proves deadly when everyone around Eggar falls victim to horrible beating deaths. Hindle is Eggar's concerned husband who is not allowed to visit while she is undergoing her "therapy." Hindle begins to investigate his wife's "therapy" when he suspects her of physically abusing their child, Candace.
"The Brood" is a horror classic and required viewing for all David Cronenberg fans. He also directed two of my other science fiction horror favorites, "Rabid" and "Scanners."
 Cronenberg's Masterpiece March 23, 2008
Jomer 25 (Canada)
I Watched This Horror Flick The Other Night First Time In A Good 18 Years.
This Movie Is A Absolute Masterpiece. Very Twisted , Creepy You Can Expect That From David Cronenberg Though. Any True Horror Buff Should Have This In There Collection.
My Favorite Cronenberg Horror Flicks In Order Are That I Have Seen
1. The Brood
2. The Dead Zone
3. Scanners
4. The Fly
5. Shivers
6. Rabid
All 6 Of These Horror's Are Classic's The Brood Is The Best Though 5*
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