By Melissa Antoinette Garza
THE BROOD (1979) stars Oliver Reed. I love Oliver Reed. If he’s in a movie, I love it. He was just beyond fabulous. If ever a man embodied charisma, confidence, charm and captivating magnetism it was Reed. He just had it all. RAWR RAWR Reed – I’ll be hanging on his cloud when I get to it.
Beyond my love for Reed, THE BROOD is just a fantastic film. It’s a Cronenberg baby, and you know David don’t play.
The film opens with sexy and strong Dr. Hal Raglan (Oliver Reed) conducting a radical therapy session with his patient Mike (Gary Mckeehan) in front of an audience. He has Mike call him ‘daddy’ and encourages him in a pretty demeaning way to take out all of the anger, resentment and neglect felt out on him.
Frank Carveth (Art Hindle) isn’t as sold on Raglan’s practices as the peeps cheering in the crowd. Frank’s ex Nola (Samantha Eggar) is also a patient of Raglan. She suffered trauma at the hands of her abusive mother, and the doc attempts to help her thru it, and he has a thing for her. He’s Oliver Fucking Reed – go get it, Nola!
Frank and Nola share young daughter Candice (Cindy Hinds), and Frank wants to keep the kid far away from the doc and his ex. He says he thinks the environment is unsafe, but I just think he’s jealous that Hal is cooler. Frank is a buzzkill.
Soon, Candice is being terrorized by these little blonde demon childlike creatures. They grab weapons and fuck peeps up in some really amazing death scenes. Again, we’re talking about Cronenberg and the man doesn’t mess around. He will drive a point home. Remember, he’s the same guy who had James Spader fuck a leg wound in CRASH (1996). That movie is fabulous as is this one.
Soon, one of these demonic little shits is killed and when it’s brought to the morgue alien autopsy style, it’s noticed that he has no belly button or genitalia. The conclusion is that the deformed monsters were not born the way in which average humans are. Oooooh, I love a good foreshadowing! Wait for it. That’s the 1970’s tense build, you’re feeling there. Isn’t it grand, boys? The payoff is mad worth it, so just watch the flick and enjoy!
Of course, there is a connection between the short motherfuckers running rampant and Raglan, though it’s not the one most would expect. It’s actually a cool twist that in an odd way celebrates the power within women and how the trauma suffered can have lasting and unpredictable effects.
The reason for the existence of the creatures is reminiscent of the Beast in SPLIT (2016) and the manifestation of the demonic force in AN AMERICAN HAUNTING (2005) though done in a way that is superior to both.
Without question, THE BROOD (1979) is definitely a must-own. The acting is phenomenal. Art Hindle is great as the protective father. Immediately, I recognized him from BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974). The man picked his horror roles very well!
Samantha Eggar was hauntingly beautiful in her performance. She portrayed Nola in such a sympathetic way by showing the magnitude of impact that the child abuse she suffered continued to have on her. The destruction that followed is made nearly excusable because of the genuine turmoil the viewers witnessed during Nola’s therapy session.
Lastly, of course Reed was stellar. Oliver was one of those rare cats who could get a gal’s toes to curl just by existing. He was such a man and I adore him. RAWR RAWR RAWR
There’s a decent copy on YOUTUBE to watch for free but the two disc Criterion collection is something special all its own.
Check this baby out and check Oliver Reed out too. He’s sooooo divine!! RAWR RAWR motherfucking RAWR
Scared Stiff Rating: 8.5/10
