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The Northman 2022
Robert Eggers third feature-length film brings us to the age of vikings (vastly opposed to his 17th century ‘The VVitch’ and his 19th century ‘The Lighthouse.’
We set foot in AD 895 to the king and his son. A tale of revenge and glory for his ancestors. King Aurvandil (Ethan Hawke) portrays the king of the land next to his heir Alexander Skarsgård (Amleth.) After a betrayal within the kingdom it sets Amleth on a quest for vengeance for his…
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Ride in the Whirlwind 1966
I’d not heard of the sub genre called ‘acid Western.’ Written by and starring Jack Nicholson, this does have a ‘counterculture’ vibe that’s similar to Easy Rider.
This starts off as morality play, but ultimately becomes a commentary about circumstance and ‘being in the wrong place at the wrong time.’ The film doesn’t cast assertions about short term thinking. Each character does what you would expect them to do. It’s not crowd pleasing, but it is authentic in its lack… -
There Will Be Blood 2007
There Will Be Blood (adapted from Oil!: Upton Sinclair) takes centre stage for greed, faith and power in this incredible tale for Daniel Plainview and his rise to power and control.
Daniel Day-Lewis delivers and unforgettable performance of Daniel Plainview, a man who is detestable but also incredibly complex in both mind and manner. He is a man of simple motivation but a perplexity of layers that truly moulds him into something else entirely. Upon his ventures of silver mining…
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The Brood 1979
It's my main man Mr. David Cronenberg's birthday today, and how better to celebrate than with blood, guts and body horror.
You know, Roger Ebert had a beef with Cronenberg's films and that's still an endless source of amusement to me. For example, about The Brood Ebert said the following: "Are there really people who want to see reprehensible trash like this?" Indeed there are, Roger, we - such people - do exist! In fact there were significantly fewer gross…
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The Brood 1979
Directed by David Cronenberg, this body horror stars Oliver Reed as doctor Raglan who is treating patients with psychological problems. One of his patients Nola played by Samantha Eggar is experiencing severe psychological difficulties and is separated from her husband Frank. When dwarf like creatures start killing people a connection is linked to to Nola. And Frank desperately tries to save their daughter Candice from harm from the creatures. And doctor Raglan could hold the key to the mystery.
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The Brood 1979
“The Brood” is a Cronenberg film I didn’t care for when I first saw it as a teenager, but ended up really liking the more I’ve revisited it. It helps to know that this film was essentially Cronenberg’s attempt to take an acrimonious custody battle and bitter divorce he was experiencing and turn it into his brand of horror film, because once you know that the entire picture comes into focus. Sure, we get some of the usual Cronenberg stuff…
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The Brood 1979
Aidan Zeglinski’s Random Movie Roulette WILD CARD #159: The Brood
Here’s another “mummy” movie from David Cronenberg! The Brood is one of his earlier films so it’s not as out-there or extreme as some of his later movies, but it still has plenty of disturbing scenes and body horror. It just takes a little while to get to it. It’s a little on the slower side, most of the movie is a bit more like a drama or a thriller… -
The Brood 1979
As a horror film this suffices by maintaining palpable tension throughout, but its scariest element is not physical; what's truly bone-chilling about The Brood is its unsettling view of the traumas of motherhood, the rage of a fragmented marriage, and crucially, the psychological-turned-physiological damage divorce forces upon children caught in-between. Those horrors shape the general narrative arc, which does an excellent job of building up the characters, their situations, and properly revealing information through exposition that feels unexpected yet undeniably…
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The Brood 1979
Not quite a visceral or gloopy as I had imagined in my head that it would be. However, I still very much enjoyed the ideas in the film and it’s definitely a more polished script than either Shivers or Rabid, both of which I did still enjoy. Oliver Reed adds such gravitas to anything that he is in and he’s great as the doctor in this. The film feels a tad Hammer horror influenced to me (a definite positive), but…
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The Brood 1979
A disturbing premise pulls itself back to reveal something even darker in another shocking body horror affair from the master himself, David Cronenberg. The Brood, to me, seems to represent a key point in the filmmaker's career, when his work seems to really shift and evolve into something larger than his earlier works. It's a solid step up from the likes of Shivers and Rabid, and utilizes elements of the genre to tell a story that is ultimately more about divorce and parenthood than it is about the grotesque.
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The Brood 1979
If you’re going to make a film this absurd it’s good to really commit, which David Cronenberg clearly did. It tells the story of a mother who is under the care of mad scientist Oliver Reed, who is into psychoplasmics. It is a film about the power of emotions - this mother gives birth to the brood, some ugly little brats in parkas with homicidal tendencies, who wander around expressing her rage in grisly ways. Very odd, a bit dull in the early stages but the craziness at the end will drag with me for a while.
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The Brood 1979
Some great 70’s Canadian actors in this. And sets and locations. 70’s Canada is a mood. Paneled wood everywhere.
The little girl is pre Carol Ann from the Poltergeist movies. Her name is Candy. So close!
This is one of the weaker Cronenberg movies from his Canada days. It’s not that scary and it lumbers a long a bit but has some good set pieces. The classroom scene is bananas!
Overall it’s serviceable early Cronenberg but not at level of Shivers, Scanners or Rabid.
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