By Eric Polk of http://anotherdescentinto.blogspot.com/
Canadian-born director David Cronenberg is, in my view, an underappreciated talent in the world of horror. His movies walk a fine line between gore and sensuality few can possibly match. Born in Toronto, his directorial debut was the 1975 classic They Came From Within, a fantastic variation of a vampire tale in which the monsters fill their victims with a parasite, turning them into mindless, sex fiends(I guess he predicted Jersey Shore by about 30 some-odd years). Next came 1977's Rabid featuring porn star Marilyn Chambers in the lead as a blood-thirsty, rabid zombie.
Following another classic with 1979's The Brood, he broke into the mainstream with the explosive(hehe) 1981's Scanners, the James Woods vehicle Videodrome(1983), and the somewhat lackluster movie version of Stephen King's The Dead Zone (1983). He made up for this misstep with the awesome remake of The Fly(1986) featuring Jeff Goldblum with a bad case of shedding.
He finally achieved critical fame with both 1988's Dead Ringers and 1991's Naked Lunch(birthplace of the term Heavy Metal). In recent years, he's directed 1996's Crash(not to be confused with 2004's Academy Award winner), 1999's eXistenz, and is currently directing next year's A Dangerous Method.
As a horror fan, I highly recommend his early work. Appreciate his visceral talent and sociological undertones in these works or if not, just enjoy Jeff Goldblum literally falling apart.
2 comments:
I like Cronenberg a lot. Eastern Promises is a fav, as is Rabid (I did a review a while back http://tinyurl.com/29khm4o).
Very good review. I loved They Came From Within and The Fly, one of the few good remakes in horror.
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