The Ultimate Experience Of Inner Terror

During the late 70’s and into the 80’s David Cronenberg was one of the leading horror directors and writers. He became known for his body horror films and his 1979 film The Brood continued this exploration.
The Brood is a film about Frank Carveth a father trying to take care of his young daughter Candice Carveth. Her mother Nola Carveth spends the film in a psychotherapy clinic deep within the northern woods of Ontario. She is being treated for an unexplained illness by Dr. Hal Raglan, a psychologist with an obsession with the power of human rage.
AS the film starts as we are introduced to Dr. Raglan who is giving a demonstration of his hypnosis style of psychology between him and another patient.
Shorty after this the film quickly takes a dark turn when Frank finds severe bruising on Candice. Suspecting that her mother is the aggressor he confronts Dr. Raglan. After unsuccessfully trying to get answers from the doctor, Frank forbids anymore visitation between Candice and Nola.
As Nola continues her therapy Dr. Raglan is able to help her manifest her rage into deformed creatures, using his knowledge of Psychoplasmics.
Fueled by Nola’s rage these creatures whose appearance is similar to Candice begin to murder. The first victim is Nola’s mother as we are lead to believe that she hit and abused Nola while she was a child.
The attacks of the rage creatures become more frequent as the therapy between Dr. Raglan and Nola continue. The attempts made by Frank to stop the treatment are met with additional attacks by these creatures.
It is during the last act of the film that we are introduced to the type of physical horror Cronenberg has become known for. As the final confrontation takes place between Frank and Nola we learn that the rage creatures are birthed externally. They are created within an amniotic sac located on the lower abdomen of Nola. This sequence is very disturbing and is a precursor to later works of Cronenberg and his exploration of the body.
Although the film looks very dated I still found The Brood to be an interesting and engaging film. It’s quite progressive in that it deals with the issue of child abuse. It has been said that Cronenberg wrote this story while going through a divorce and custody battle with his wife. He has also said that Nola has similar characteristics to his ex-wife.
I would suggest this film to people who are already familiar with the work of Cronenberg but not as a starting point for those just discovering his films.