Cronenberg is possibly my favourite film director (with Michael and Roberta Findlay coming a close second). "The Brood" is my favourite film by him as it contains the body horror of "Rabid" and "Shivers" but opens it out into a more psychological world at the same time. I also like it's bleak message regarding unintentional, emotional child abuse and it's rather savage attack on New Age and anti-psychiatry thinking.
I always wished he'd made more films with James Spader, who for me has the same emotional detachment in his acting as Cronenberg projects in his films. Spader also has a look of Cronenberg in "Crash" which was a nice touch given the source material.
Cronenberg is also the only director from the 70s horror scene, that included Romero, Craven, Carpenter, who seems to make interesting, intelligent and popular cinema to this day. I've not seen his last two films but love the fact that the older he gets the more varied he becomes.
|