THE BROOD Remake Gets a CRAZIES Director

"Flaws"? (white glove smack)

No, but it's an uneven film the way Night of the Living Dead is an uneven film. It "ain't one of his best", but if he stopped making movies after Scanners, The Brood would be the best of his five-film ouvre. I love the score, I love Oliver Reed, I love Canada in the fall...

It lays the groundwork for a lot of what Cronenberg did later. It's inexorably tied to its decade with that EST/new age group therapy clinic, and on top of all that it's weirdly autobiographical. For me it falls into that nebulous "perfect film" category Devin defined a ways back.

But how can I explain the charms of the film to a fella who visually spoils the third act of the original in a remake announcement? :P

(I know you said you "loved it despite its flaws", so I'm really just using the news as an excuse to gush about the movie. And holy shit, this movie should be scaring the hell out of you right now. Put on the ending and tell your lady it's a training video...)

I'm trying to imagine how they would even attempt to present the ending of the original in a new film. It's not that they wouldn't go there, it's that it we be so slickly shot in all blue and green filtered cinematography as to be visually antiseptic.

Actually, now that I think about, I'm picturing third act revealed mama being some giant cg/make-up alien queen type thing popping out hundreds of broodlings that have to be 'sploded. No.

I must be a bad geek. I saw this, but I can't remember the end.

How do you remake such a personal film? You'd take away everything that made the original so engrossing and interesting.

How about someone remakes The Beast Within instead?

Spoiler! What are the statute of limitations on spoilers? I know the movie is 30 years old, but even I was caught off guard by the reveal at the end when I revisted the film 1-2 years back after having not seen it since I was 7 or something.

Remaking Cronenberg is a bothersome idea to me, his is such a personal, singular vision that I feel as if his work would ring false through the eyes of another filmmaker, especially with the unambitious xerox treatment given most remakes these days.

Edgar Wright posted on his Twitter: "Hollywood, I already know you are remaking 'The Brood'. Please don't remake 'The Brood'."


But I'm all for a re-make of The Beast Within. That was a fucked up, crazy movie.

That's great, I believe Wright was originally offered The Crazies remake but turned it down.

Ridiculous. There's nothing "lesser" about Cronenberg's Brood. One of his most personal works and a great horror film that still touches a nerve with people.

Just about as stupid a remake idea as the Straw Dogs one. What inspiration could they bring to the table, besides new monster faces?

Remake is such a terrible idea. Not only is Cronenberg the shit, but they'll never be able to capture that inherent 70s feel (is it the film stock or aesthetic?), which freaks me out so.

I'm always baffled by these remakes for semi-obscure (to the general populace) horror classics. Yes, even non-horror fan mooks and CBS-watching grandmas have heard of Dawn of the Dead and Chainsaw, so I kind of get the name recognition factor of remaking those. Ask a thousand casual movie-goers about their feelings on The Brood and get ready for a bunch of blank stares. Not only is it a bad idea creatively, but, from my viewpoint, it seems like dumb marketing as well.

The Brood is easily among the best things Cronenburg ever did. I've seen very few films with quite such a thread of personal rage running through them (The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover comes to mind).

Agreed. It is definitely one of my Cronenberg favorites. I don't see the point in remaking this film, especially since it will likely just turn into a watered down version of the original. Remaking Scanners? Sure. I love Scanners, but it is a broad enough concept that you could run with in countless directions for a remake. Someone extremely talented could make a hell of Scanners redo. Honestly, while I figured The Brood would be remade at some point since it is from a popular genre director, I didn't expect it to end up being the first. Scanners, Shivers, and Rabid all seemed more likely to me considering their concepts.