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The Brood (1979) - David Cronenberg


The Brood is a disturbing and thought provoking movie that is brought to us by David Cronenberg. Some of the imagery he uses is just so intense and violent that it makes you shudder to watch it. You have to be in a certain mind set to really dive into this thing. The movie has the ability to incite all sorts of emotions in your brain, some parts of the movie are incredibly depressing and other parts are mortifying. Cronenberg does a great job of making his viewer feel a certain way when you watch his movies; I had never seen The Brood before and I didn't know what to expect, but suffice to say I became immersed in it.

The movie is about a man who is raising a little girl on his own and dealing with a divorce. His ex-wife is undergoing a radical new therapy that physically manifests itself as deformities on the patients body. Her therapist is a tyrant who keeps her in isolation and has many lawsuits against him claiming psychological damages; throw in some tiny little kid-like assassins that do the doctors bidding and you have quite the movie. The story line is key to this movie, it is a genius mix of drama with a perfect pit of horror and gore. The movie is like a bad tribute band, it gets you in the door and throws in some horror when you're not expecting it.

The acting and special effects are pretty standard for its time, there isn't anything that really stand out in that category. The gore is really disgusting though, there are some scenes that just stick with you, you can't shake 'em. That is really what makes the movie what it is, it is so unique in that way, it is almost psychological.

This movie is disturbing and stays that way all the way through to the core. The Brood is mentally haunting in such a way that I almost don't want to see it ever again. Its like an actual event that happened in your life and you don't want to relive it.
Don't make her angry!


  • While making this movie David Cronenberg was going through a nasty divorce.
  • Bravo Channel rates this movie as one of the scariest of all time. 
  • A remake is in the works by director Breck Eisner. 

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