The Dead Zone

We've yet to see M Butterfly, but this one here just has to be Cronenberg's worst. Now you all know that if there's one thing we love it's fawning over Big Davey Crones, so of course you've gotta understand that our hands are really tied here. We can't do anything but jam our fingers in our ears and look the other way with this flick. See, we're throwing all rationality out the window and refusing to believe that The Dead Zone's faults 'n failures belong to Canada's gloppiest Cartesian auteur. Now who's to blame you ask? Why, Stephen King of course. Sure, his book might be good. He may have an interesting premise about soothseeing and political intrigue, but, c'mon Stevie, you know we don't want to see anything on the big screen that's even inspired by you unless it's got some flying Coke cans in the treatment!

The Cinema suggests that if you're wanting something Croney or Kingy you direct your attention over to The Brood or Pet Sematary. Maybe even try Firestarter or that Anthony Michael Hall show on for size. But whatever ya do, just remember that no matter how intrigued ya are by Chris Walken's signature mugshots or how badly you wanna see Tom Skerritt in a policeman's uniform for the hundreth time, The Dead Zone is hardly acceptable even when ya've stumbled home from an all-night bender.

The Fly (1986)

Hahaha. That picture's gonna give you nightmares.

Shivers

More of the goopy body politicking from our good friend Canadian Dave. We sure love the Croney so of course we got a kick out of his debut even though it didn't quite deliver the goods the way his subsequent flicks do. Shivers still hit us with a bitchin' plot 'bout a lab-borne clap-ridden parasitic slug that turns high-rise condo tenants into sex-crazed zombies. We dug the mid-70s Earth tones, the way that dude puked up bloody chunks on an old lady's umbrella, and we especially enjoyed the blatant Romerian finale where a hillside of the stumblin' dead force our protagonist into a poolside Dionysian/pseudo-Sapphic orgy the likes of which you won't admit to having ever seen before! This flick is most likely some sort of comment on the changing sexual standards and practices of the post-Pill, dusk of Free Love generation, but we'll hold off on our dissertation until at least a second viewing.

Music supervised by Ivan Reitman!

Videodrome

We fucking dig David Cronenberg around here. And what's not to like? You can't tell me you're not dying to see Debbie Harry's nipples, James Woods make out with a tv screen, or a ridiculously cool stomach vagina that'll gape for Betamax cartridges and make a guy's hand explode.

We're calling Videodrome Big Dave's signature release 'cause even if it ain't his most effective or his best, it's a perfect meld of his '70s-era horror glop and current-era identity politics: technology/representations of reality dictate YOU and your perception of actual reality.

And then some dude's innards make a gurgling, bubbling, chunky mess on the floor.

Keep in mind the "New Flesh" reiterations and "neural floodgates" dialogue are almost too clumsy to be forgiven and the heavy-handedness of the Cathode Ray Mission is too much like Rocky IV-esque binary moralizing. Fortunately the rest of the thing is a well-realized Our Media, Ourselves treatise that combines all the essential elements of the Cronenberg Secrets of the Ooze trifecta: icy cold machinery, engorged sex organs, and ever-changing existence. The makings of a typically fantastic Crones experience!

We're unconditionally telling you to see this 'cause even though it's a kick-ass picture, it's more importantly a kick-ass example of the Highland Cinema as Joe Bob Briggs, PhD. Just as Night of the Living Dead's graphic zombifications recreated the horror industry, "Videodrome"'s sexual snuff clips recreate Max Renn.

Check out this Commodore 64 trailer which is nothing like the movie.

The Brood

David Cronenberg likes slop, slime, and navigating the troublesome waters of sexualized body politics. The Brood likes experimental psychotherapy and deformed rage babies bludgeoning people to death with meat tenderizers and snowglobes. On the downside, you don't get Cronenberg's gross blood and sputum scenes until the finale, but on the plus you get genuine suspense and legitimate creepiness for the full ninety minutes.

The Highland Cinema loves the Crone but we weren't too hot on Rabid, his pre-Brood entry (aside from Marilyn Chambers...yowza!), so we didn't expect that much out of this one. But, hey, we were wrong. The Brood was great. My inner Joe Bob says it's "glop-tastic" with lots of parka-wearing dwarf assassins, chancre-ridden head cases, and plastic mallet fu. Highland Cinema nominations for supporting actor Robert Silverman as the cancer patient with the bad combover. Check it out.