Editorials
The Master of Body Horror: A David Cronenberg Horror Retrospective
Horror master David Cronenberg is hitting a major milestone on March 15th, with his 75th birthday. The Canadian-born writer, director, and actor was a major innovator of the body horror subgenre, and has long revulsed audiences with his visceral brand of psychological and bodily transformation horror. His untraditional, personal filmmaking translating on screen as some of horror’s most uncomfortable, surreal journeys sets him apart. While he’s long since departed from genre films, his work is still relevant today. With a remake of Rabid underway, and a recent announcement that rights have been acquired to adapt Scanners as a TV series, to say the auteur still has a firm hold on horror would be an understatement. To celebrate such a major milestone, we look back at Cronenberg’s major contributions to horror and what made them so great:
As Director
Shivers
After two art-house features and numerous shorts, Cronenberg went into partnership with producer Ivan Reitman and unleashed Shivers upon Canadian audiences. Also known as The Parasite Murders or They Came from Within, Cronenberg’s first major feature followed a strain of parasites infecting residents of a suburban high-rise apartment building, turning them into rage-filled, sex-crazed fiends that in turn infect others with sexual contact. The violence and sexual content meant the release was met with a lot of controversies. Shot in a short 15 days, Cronenberg’s major debut may have infuriated critics, but from a horror perspective, it’s a brutal, bleak voyage through terror that marks the beginning of the director’s gross-out body horror.
Rabid
A unique twist to the zombie formula in a way only Cronenberg could deliver, in which a young woman undergoes experimental plastic surgery after a severe crash, leaving her with a hunger for human blood. Her victims then turn into rabid zombies that then infect others, causing an epidemic. Cronenberg keeps to his intimate storytelling and body horror; the young woman stricken with newfound bloodthirst feeds by way of a stinger that emerges from her armpit. Cronenberg initially wanted to cast Sissy Spacek as the woman, but the studio overruled because of her accent. So, porn star Marilyn Chambers was cast instead.
The Brood
Considered by Cronenberg to be one of the most classic horror films that he ever did, it’s also very autobiographical. During development, Cronenberg was fighting for custody of his daughters from his first marriage. Starring Oliver Reed and Samantha Eggar, this twisty sci-fi psychological horror film follows a psychologist’s therapy on his institutionalized wife during a series of brutal murders committed by a brood of mutant children. It grossed out the critics at the time of release, particularly for the scene that featured Eggar eating her own afterbirth. A great horror classic, it also marks the score debut from Howard Shore.
Scanners
A futuristic sci-fi thriller that centers around industrial conspiracy and espionage as a scientist sends a man, Revok, with extraordinary psychic powers to hunt down others like him. The head explosion scene is forever iconic, but Cronenberg has called this one the most frustrating film he’d ever made due to the forced rush job through production. Filming had to begin without a finished script, making the director write and direct simultaneously. The first of Cronenberg’s films that spawned sequels, though he wasn’t involved.
Videodrome
One of Cronenberg’s most beloved films by fans, it follows James Woods as a sleazy cable TV programmer whose life begins to spiral out of control once he stumbles about a broadcast signal featuring extreme torture. The concept stemmed from Cronenberg’s childhood when he used to pick up television signals from Buffalo, New York after Canadian channels had gone off air and his childhood worry of seeing something not meant for public eyes. The surreal imagery combined with special effects master Rick Baker’s work on the film combined to create one of the strangest, entrancing horror films way ahead of its time.
The Dead Zone
One of only three of Cronenberg’s films to not have been scored by Howard Shore, and the first major studio film directed by Cronenberg, The Dead Zone was adapted for the screen by Jeffrey Boam based on Stephen King’s novel. Even as a major studio film, Cronenberg still filmed in his home province of Ontario. Christopher Walken plays the empathetic Johnny Smith, a teacher with a future ahead of him until an accident lands him in a coma. When he wakes years later, life has moved on without him, and the discovery that he now has a psychic ability becomes a blessing and a curse.
The Fly
The only film directed by Cronenberg to win an Oscar (for Best Makeup), this magnum opus is one of the best horror movies of all time. A tragic love story that plays out like an opera, Seth Brundle’s transformation into a grotesque human fly while his lover, Veronica Quaife, helplessly watches on was made more compelling by Cronenberg’s revisions to Charles Pogue’s original screenplay. He kept the basic concepts the same, but injected his trademark themes of sexuality, personal identity crisis, and body horror. So much more body horror. Thank you, Cronenberg.
Dead Ringers
The last of Cronenberg’s true horror films follow twin gynecologists who spiral out of control in drug addiction and codependency once a new woman enters their life. Jeremy Irons played the dual role of twin brothers Elliot and Beverly Mantle. Checking off all the requisite Cronenberg boxes, from intimacy, sexuality, and downbeat tone, Dead Ringers is more subdued than previous efforts in that the director delves more into the psychological over shocking imagery- though there is that here too. A deep character study with masterful double performances by Irons, Dead Ringers is extremely unsettling, and often overlooked.
eXistenZ
Though classified as sci-fi, this 1999 release still bears Cronenberg’s characteristic body horror and is a great thrill ride that genre fans will love. Jennifer Jason Leigh plays a game designer on the run from assassins, who must play her latest VR game with a marketing trainee to test if the game has been tampered with. A mind-bending psychological examination of how humans interact with surrounding technology, or in this case, video games, Cronenberg delivers on the weird and surreal. It may sound all techno-pulp, but the gooey body horror still applies.
As Actor
Cronenberg can often be spotted in cameo roles, from the Gynecologist in a nightmare sequence in The Fly to small appearances in John Landis’ comedy Into the Night. But when he steps into a more prominent role on screen, the director proves to be a jack of all trades. Some of his more notable horror acting roles include:
Nightbreed
It’s not the monsters that you should be afraid of in this Clive Barker film, but the cool, calculated Dr. Phillip K. Decker, a psychotherapist who moonlights as a masked serial killer. Cronenberg is chilling as the film’s antagonist, his intelligence translating on-screen in making Decker a formidable, deadly foe for Midian and its inhabitants. In a film full of creatively designed creatures, Cronenberg’s Decker stands out.
Resurrection
Russell Mulcahy (Highlander) reteams with Christopher Lambert in this Canadian production of a grisly serial killer procedural by way of Se7en. This film’s killer is one that uses missing body parts to rebuild the body of Christ in the nick of time for Easter, and Cronenberg this time plays a priest, Father Roussell.
Jason X
Before Jason Voorhees was cryogenically frozen and ended up in space, he was captured and kept in stasis by the U.S. government. Cronenberg played Dr. Wimmer, a scientist researching Jason’s cellular regeneration. Of course, this is the beginning of the movie, so Dr. Wimmer and his military team don’t last long at all. Yup. Cronenberg gets slaughtered by Jason Voorhees in this over-the-top sequel.
In this day and age, the word “troll” is often used to describe various online nuisances. Yet as abundant and irksome as the modern troll can be, they aren’t usually as fearsome as their mythological counterparts. I’m not talking about the small and gentler versions that have become more common to see in media. No, there are much bigger and scarier trolls out there—and André Øvredal’s movie Troll Hunter is one of the best places to find them.
It doesn’t take long for Troll Hunter (or Trolljegeren) to dump the Blair Witch Project-esque setup and aim for something a lot fresher. The trajectory of the story is augmented by Otto Jespersen’s character Hans, the titular Troll Hunter. The second he comes barreling out of the deep, dark woods and shouts “troll” at the camera, this movie takes a turn into what feels like uncharted territory. Not only subject-wise, but also conceptually.
For fantastical and made-up subject matter in cinema, found footage is a fast way to add a guise of believability. After all, what we accept to be the most crucial aspect of documentaries—the truth—rubs off on pseudo-documentaries, despite our understanding of the pretense involved. That is what Øvredal delivered with Troll Hunter: a movie so convincing that some viewers wondered if trolls really do exist. So, had this been straightforwardly made, it likely wouldn’t have been as effective. Conventional narratives would be more inclined to treat something like trolls as flat out unreal, and never try to convince the audience to think otherwise.
Hans petrifies the three-headed Tusseladd troll.
The viewers, like the characters trailing Hans, are quickly thrown into the deeper end of that extraordinary story. They have to process all this new information while staying on the go. So, although there is no significant amount of meandering, narratively or physically, there is still a good amount of atmosphere, not to mention tension building. It’s never anything frightful, but then again, Troll Hunter isn’t your standard offering of horror; it’s more on the low end of the dark fantasy spectrum. We aren’t ever spirited away to a faraway world—we stay in rather familiar surroundings, as well as dip into those less so. The outcome is a movie where you’re constantly more in awe than in terror.
As fantasy fiction might do, Troll Hunter prefers not to deal with incredulity. There is no time to waste on doubt, as interviewer Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), soundperson Johanna (Johanna Mørck), and cameraman Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) all follow Hans around, recording whatever this character is willing to reveal about his bizarre job. Of course, the Troll Hunter himself is not an open book; in that respect, the diegetic documentary fails to fully capture and unpack the more interesting of its two subjects. Yes, all those giant, monstrous trolls are indeed incredible, but understandably, your mind wanders to their pursuer. What kind of person signs up for this gig and then chooses to stick with it for so long?
Reviews have called out Troll Hunter for its lack of character development. In regard to Thomas and his fellow documentarians, that criticism is valid, but bear in mind, they aren’t the focus of the story, either. Meanwhile, Hans is a well-crafted character. At least better than first realized. Before he was introduced, Hans had already grown tired of the troll grind. Fed up with that low compensation for his services, resentful of the bureaucracy, and wanting to expose his employer on a large scale, Hans’ discontent is glaring.
Then there are those finer details about the Troll Hunter, such as that indifference to both the natural splendor of his everyday surroundings and the affections of an obviously smitten colleague, that also suggest some level of despondency. So it is fair to say this movie doesn’t feature any sizable growth for its characters; however, the namesake isn’t underwritten. No doubt, putting a real-life character like Otto Jespersen in that role is partly why Hans is so fascinating—maybe even relatable.
Otto Jespersen as Hans the Troll Hunter.
There is always a small risk whenever using the term “mockumentary” to describe a found-footage movie, as the word could imply humor where there is none. In the case of Troll Hunter, the term’s usage is appropriate. Some folks have claimed the English-dubbed version has the more comedic tone, however, the Norwegian cut isn’t exactly humorless. Apart from the trolls’ absurd appearances, this is a movie where the characters nearly choke on the monsters’ farts, and Christians are like walking targets. Hans’ complete apathy towards everything is another cause of laughter. Overall, the comedy is intentionally dry and inconsistent. Unfunny, though? Absolutely not.
In a movie where endemic creatures are maltreated, as well as disavowed from living freely and peacefully, it’s hard not to notice the ecological message buried beneath the story. In addition to that is the unmistakable political satire. There is this whole business about intrusive and unsightly power lines—like trolls, they’re big blemishes on the land—that leads to what is perhaps the movie’s funniest moment. The scene in question is that one where certain electric lines, the ones secretly being used to keep the trolls at bay, go in a loop and don’t actually send power to any residents. Yet the monitors of said lines don’t find this at all weird. So it stands to reason that Øvredal was having a go at those who accept the government’s doings without question.
Looking past the fact that trolls aren’t actually real, this movie is an enlightening source of information. And not just for international audiences; Norwegians, too, get schooled about their homeland’s own mythology. It’s also evident from everything on screen that Øvredal and his crew were enthusiastic about the topic. The creature designs are the most indicative of that zeal; those imaginative yet myth-accurate manifestations are equally amusing and grotesque. One second you’re laughing at their phallic noses, the next you’re white-knuckling during a hairy sequence. Most surprisingly is how well the trolls’ visual effects hold up after fifteen years. It’s not all spotless, but on the whole, they remain impressive.
Vouching for a mockumentary about trolls isn’t easy, but those who do come around and give it a shot will more than likely be grateful for the recommendation. For Troll Hunter is a real find in that vast and varied genre we call “found footage“.
A bridge troll reaches up for food and finds Hans decked out in armor.
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