The Brood

Cronenberg puts all the horror on the shoulders on the “killers dwarfs” wearing children overalls and wielding hammers, unfortunately, it’s mostly gratuitous and not very scary. You can't deny the chilling, bleak atmosphere, but if you can't take the core of all evil seriously, it can hardly frighten you or arouse any unpleasant emotions. (07/01/2008)

I was expecting monster horror and I got something completely different, but I haven't seen a horror movie with mutated goblins yet, so why not. David Cronenberg once again does a great job with the atmosphere especially in the final third, but this time he didn't satisfy me enough in the first half to make me cheer with excitement like I did in the second half, so I can't in good conscience give it 4*. Definitely Croneneberg's best horror film after The Fly and Shivers. (01/08/2014)

A depressing psychological aspect, a chilling mystery, bloody murders, a repulsive physiological deformation of the human body, a shock-therapy controversy. All wrapped up in the delicately intimate, gloomy package of Cronenberg’s genius. The Brood is his most intense horror movie. (08/28/2005)

The scene where a woman gives birth to another child is so grotesque that it will stick in your memory permanently. The same applies when the young creatures attack little Candice. I wouldn't want to be in that young actress's shoes. The film might turn some peoples’ stomachs, but its power lies not in visual disgust but in the abhorrence of the human psyche and what people are willing to do to achieve their goals, no matter what they may be. (11/22/2013)

Cronenberg elevates this rather childish horror premise of mutant dwarves capable of murdering their victims with almost anything beyond the prized genre average of the 1970s with intense psychological pressure and a smartly plotted screenplay. Unfortunately, as good as it is to watch even after all these years, and the enigmatic figure of the formidable Oliver Reed (why didn't this guy break into the world of big screen movies?! ) perfectly combines a violent, typically Cronenbergian plane with intimate conversational depth, today it's impossible to shake the dust of obsolescence off the story and ignore the fact that little thin-lipped children aren't scary and don't fill the audience's experience nearly as much as the oppressive atmosphere built by Cronenberg, Shore and the cast deserves. 70% (07/22/2016)