{"id":69898,"date":"2021-02-27T20:38:30","date_gmt":"2021-02-28T03:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=69898"},"modified":"2021-03-27T00:13:14","modified_gmt":"2021-03-27T07:13:14","slug":"brood-the-1979","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=69898","title":{"rendered":"Brood, The (1979)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;The law believes in motherhood.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Poster-201x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-69899\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Poster-201x300.png 201w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Poster-687x1024.png 687w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Poster-86x128.png 86w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Poster-181x270.png 181w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Poster.png 751w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen he picks up his daughter Candy (Cindy Hinds) from a weekend visit with her mother (Samantha Eggar) at a controversial therapeutic clinic and notices welts on her back, Eggar&#8217;s husband (Art Hindle) confronts Eggar&#8217;s doctor (Oliver Reed) and tries to determine what&#8217;s going on. Meanwhile, a rash of mysterious murders by a dwarf-like creature ensues, as Frank first leaves Candy with her grandmother (Nuala Fitzgerald) and then with her sympathetic schoolteacher (Susan Hogan).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>David Cronenberg Films<\/li>\n<li>Father and Child<\/li>\n<li>Horror Films<\/li>\n<li>Mental Illness<\/li>\n<li>Mutant Monsters<\/li>\n<li>Oliver Reed Films<\/li>\n<li>Psychotherapy<\/li>\n<li>Samantha Eggar Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that this &#8220;complex, chilling horror film by David Cronenberg advances two of his major themes: there is nothing more frightening than sudden unexplained changes in our physical compositions&#8221; and &#8220;sterile institutions meant to promote health are often responsible&#8230; for destroying a person&#8217;s physical and mental well-being.&#8221; He notes that &#8220;this was the first Cronenberg film in which his characters are sympathetic&#8221;, with &#8220;the relationship between Hindle and Hinds&#8230; truly touching&#8221; (agreed). <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Hindle.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Hindle-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-69907\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Hindle-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Hindle-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Hindle-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Hindle-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Hindle-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Hindle.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>While he feels the &#8220;film often has repulsive imagery and much in the climactic scene is illogical,&#8221; there &#8220;are several terrifying scenes&#8221; and he posits that the picture has &#8220;a cold, other-worldly feel&#8221; which is &#8220;heightened by the fact that many of the characters&#8217; surnames&#8230; can&#8217;t be found in your local telephone book&#8221; (!). <\/p>\n<p>Peary elaborates upon his review in his first <em>Cult Movies<\/em> book, where he admits to being &#8220;intrigued by the premises of all of Cronenberg&#8217;s film&#8221; but questioning &#8220;his judgments and directorial maturity&#8221;, given that he gets &#8220;juvenile pleasure from trying to jolt viewers by repelling them with blatant, often ridiculous images&#8221;, and gets &#8220;kicks trying to disgust us.&#8221; (In a &#8220;making of&#8221; documentary about this movie, Eggar concedes that it was hard not to laugh while filming the infamous scene in which she reveals her deformed body to Hindle&#8230;) Peary writes that among the &#8220;terrifying sequences&#8221; are &#8220;the murders of Julianna [Nuala Fitzgerald] and Barton [Henry Beckman]&#8221; (Eggar&#8217;s parents); he accurately notes that &#8220;when Julianna enters her mysteriously ramshackle kitchen, looks up toward the ceiling, and spots a little crouched figure in red atop the cupboards about to leap on her, or when Candy sees the hooded figure (who may remind you of the dwarf assassin in <em>Don&#8217;t Look Now<\/em>, 1973) hiding on the stairwell, you are likely to jump.&#8221; Meanwhile, &#8220;the most chilling&#8221; scenes are when two of the dwarf-like creatures &#8220;brazenly enter Candy&#8217;s classroom pretending to be her classmates:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Classroom.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Classroom-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-69912\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Classroom-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Classroom-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Classroom-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Classroom-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Classroom-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Classroom.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; and when they walk with Candy hand in hand along the highway in the snow.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Peary writes that &#8220;perhaps what is most remarkable about <em>The Brood<\/em> is the sinister quality that Cronenberg establishes,&#8221; by &#8220;staging intense psychodramas between Raglan and Nola&#8221; (and, in the opening scene, with another troubled patient): <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Psychodrama.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Psychodrama-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-69910\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Psychodrama-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Psychodrama-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Psychodrama-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Psychodrama-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Psychodrama-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Psychodrama.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; as well as &#8220;by creating a restrictive atmosphere around the Psychoplasmics Institute; by making his characters humorless and setting the picture in cold, snowy weather (where everyone wears coats and scarves, and walks under gray skies)&#8221;: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Cold-Bus.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Cold-Bus-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-69911\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Cold-Bus-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Cold-Bus-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Cold-Bus-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Cold-Bus-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Cold-Bus-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Cold-Bus.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; &#8220;by giving the autocratic Raglan a henchman; [and] by making us aware of the history of child abuse in Nola&#8217;s life.&#8221; While Peary doesn&#8217;t think the final sequence makes sense, he concedes that &#8220;at least it&#8217;s spooky, lively, and comes after about an hour and a half of absorbing, solid cinema.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Art Hindle as Frank<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Hindle2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Hindle2-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-69909\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Hindle2-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Hindle2-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Hindle2-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Hindle2-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Hindle2-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Hindle2.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Oliver Reed as Dr. Raglan<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Reed.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Reed-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-69901\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Reed-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Reed-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Reed-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Reed-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Reed-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Reed.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Samantha Eggar as Nola<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Eggar.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Eggar-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-69906\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Eggar-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Eggar-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Eggar-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Eggar-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Eggar-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Eggar.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fine cinematography and direction<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Set.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Set-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-69902\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Set-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Set-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Set-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Set-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Set-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Set.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Direction.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Direction-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-69905\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Direction-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Direction-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Direction-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Direction-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Direction-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Direction.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Set2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Set2-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-69903\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Set2-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Set2-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Set2-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Set2-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Set2-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Set2.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Many creepy moments<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Walking.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Walking-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-69904\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Walking-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Walking-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Walking-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Walking-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Walking-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brood-Walking.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as an eerie and still-powerful cult horror flick. Discussed at length in Peary&#8217;s <em>Cult Movies<\/em> book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cult Movie<\/li>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0078908\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=3287\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/horror\/brood-1979.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;The law believes in motherhood.&#8221; Synopsis: When he picks up his daughter Candy (Cindy Hinds) from a weekend visit with her mother (Samantha Eggar) at a controversial therapeutic clinic and notices welts on her back, Eggar&#8217;s husband (Art Hindle) confronts Eggar&#8217;s doctor (Oliver Reed) and tries to determine what&#8217;s going on. Meanwhile, a rash of mysterious murders by a dwarf-like creature ensues, as Frank first leaves Candy with her grandmother (Nuala Fitzgerald) and then with her sympathetic schoolteacher (Susan Hogan)&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=69898\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=69898"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70859,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69898\/revisions\/70859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=69898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=69898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=69898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}