The Brood

1979
R
1h 32m

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

36K

YOUR RATING

'The Brood' is a 1979 horror movie by David Cronenberg.

Play trailer2:37

1 Video

99 Photos

Body Horror Horror Sci-Fi

A man tries to uncover an unconventional psychologist's therapy techniques on his institutionalized wife, amidst a series of brutal murders.A man tries to uncover an unconventional psychologist's therapy techniques on his institutionalized wife, amidst a series of brutal murders.A man tries to uncover an unconventional psychologist's therapy techniques on his institutionalized wife, amidst a series of brutal murders.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

36K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 5 nominations

Videos1

Trailer 2:37

Trailer

Photos128

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
David Cronenberg wrote the film following the tumultuous divorce and child-custody battle he waged against Margaret Hindson. Cronenberg also said that Samantha Eggar's character, Nola Carveth, possessed some of the characteristics of his ex-wife.

Goofs
Just after the first murder, the deformed/mutant child who committed it leaves very large, bloody handprints on the stair railing just near the dead body. These handprints are never mentioned again, in particular by the police, who insist later that they were "never looking for anything that small." It would have been impossible to miss these handprints at the crime scene, and such child-sized handprints would have certainly tipped off the police in a different direction upon discovery.

Quotes
Juliana Kelly: Thirty seconds after you're born you have a past and sixty seconds after that you begin to lie to yourself about it.

Crazy credits
Special thanks to Dr. Denton: Sleepware.

Alternate versions
The 2005 R2 UK DVD by Anchor Bay, features the 92min Unrated Cut (in addition to the 88min UK edited cut). This is the first time the Unrated Cut has been released in the UK on a home entertainment format, and includes an additional 28 seconds of footage from the ripping and licking of the foetus, the mallet murder of the old lady and shots of the dead schoolteacher's battered face.

Connections
Featured in Sneak Previews: The Promise, The Prisoner of Zenda, Saint Jack, Alien, Battlestar Galactica, The Brood, The Passage (1979)

User reviews192

Review

Featured review

8/10

This Is Horror!

Although I have watched David Cronenberg's "The Brood" a number of times, I still find it unbelievably disturbing. From the beginning until the ending credits, it is unsettling horror at its morbid best.

Under the care of Dr. Hal Raglan (Oliver Reed), Nola Carveth (Samantha Eggar) is undergoing a radical and controversial form of psychiatric treatment called "Psychoplasmics". Psychoplasmics takes the role-playing of psychotherapy to a new level by training the patient to release his pent-up rage and physically expel that rage from his body. Sounds weird? That is only the beginning. Frank Carveth (Art Hindle) is Nola's estranged husband who suspects his wife of physically abusing their daughter Candace. After vowing to protect his daughter legally, murders committed by strange deformed children begin to occur.

To say anymore would be to stifle The Brood's terror-ific mystique. However, I will suggest that you consider experiencing this film on an empty stomach with the lights on. After viewing, don't be surprised if you feel compelled to make amends with anyone you might currently be at odds with.