"Second Sight Gives Cronenberg an Upgrade"
Second Sight Films are bringing out David Cronenberg's version of KRAMER VS KRAMER (his words) in a smartly presented new extras-packed 4K restoration in UHD and Blu-ray editions.
Frank Carveth (Art Hindle) is becoming increasingly concerned about the treatment of his ex-wife Nola (Samantha Eggar) at the Somafree Institute of Psychoplasmics. As if being a patient at a David Cronenberg Hospital for Body Horror isn’t bad enough, the place also happens to be run by Oliver Reed who plays institute head Dr Hal Raglan. Raglan’s experiments have centred on psychiatric patients making their symptoms, and especially their rage, physical. As Nola’s increasingly psychotic anger is vented during her sessions, brutal murders begin to befall those at whom it’s directed. When Frank’s daughter is abducted he is led to Raglan’s institute and a final deliciously gruesome confrontation that, if you are not familiar with it, is not going to be spoiled for you by this review.
THE BROOD represented an important milestone in David Cronenberg’s career. It was his first film to be made with Canada’s Filmplan International, with whom he went on to make SCANNERS (1981) and VIDEODROME (1983); it was his first film to have a reasonable budget, allowing him to employ two major movie stars; and it was the first of his films to feature the creative team he would work with on his next few projects (including art director Carol Spier whose book cover design for Raglan’s The Shape of Rage was used to illustrate pretty much everything written about the director at the time, and director of photography Mark Irwin) and in the case of Howard Shore it would result in a composer-director relationship that exists to this day.
New to this release is a commentary track by Kat Ellinger and Martyn Conterio that's here in addition to an archival commentary track from William Beard. Also new to this release is a 22 minute visual essay by Leigh Singer that looks at the depiction of rage in THE BROOD and other movies including CARRIE, 28 DAYS LATER and the appearances of the Incredible Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Archival material has also been ported over from Second Sight's previous Blu-ray release. This includes ‘Producing the Brood’ - an interview with Pierre David, who explains how he ended up involved in the production of the movie and how easy it was to deal with everyone involved - except Oliver Reed. Depending on how you view the antics of dear old Olly will determine whether you’ll be chuckling with affection or shaking your head in despair at David’s tale of Mr Reed’s nude bet that caused him to end up in police custody.
Fangoria editor Chris Alexander talks to stars Art Hindle and Cindy Hinds in 'Meet the Carveths' and takes them back to the school location used for the film. Mark Irwin talks about his involvement with the project and about Oliver Reed, and there’s an interview with Robert Silverman (THE BROOD, SCANNERS, EXISTENZ) which reveals him to be the unique personality many have probably always suspected him to be. There's also a short interview with composer Howard Shore who talks about his 'live recording' approach to the score. David Cronenberg himself is interviewed in ‘Cronenberg - The Early Years’. Finally, the limited edition comes with a 120 page book with new writing on the film, six art cards and a slipcase.
David Cronenberg's THE BROOD is out in both a limited dual format UHD and Blu-ray edition and standard separate UHD and Blu-ray discs from Second Sight on Monday 31st Match 2025
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