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By far the scariest of Cronenberg's films, and arguably his best film, perhaps even better than Crash and his other "serious" later films. The Brood has the sort of emotional intensity and keen sense of injustice that can be found in other great horror movies, like Polanski's Repulsion. It takes a premise - killer midgets born of "rage" - which, in the hands of another director could have at best turned into some sort of Peter-Jackson-y or Raimi-ish horror-comedy. In Cronenberg-s hands, though, the midgets are anything but funny. If you laugh it while watching The Brood it will most likely be a little terrified yelp. The midgets are terrifying. When we first meet the midgets (in the murder of the alcoholic grandmother) we see items being knocked off the kitchen shelf and are reminded of Gremlins. Don't get too comfortable, though. What follows is anything but funny. The Brood will scar you. It is based on material in Cronenberg's own life - specifically his divorce - about which he feels incredibly bitter, if The Brood is anything to go by. As in Polanski's Cul-de-Sac, and Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, Cronenberg's bitterness, anguish and sorrow translate into not only one of the greatest horror films ever, but one of the most powerful films in any genre.
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