Don’t know what to watch? Are you overwhelmed by how many movies there are nowadays? Gordon Briggs’ Reel Talk is here for you. Every month, this column will highlight three films from movie history that are worth your time.
The 2024 film The Shrouds is one of several films by director David Cronenberg that tap into our primal fears about losing control of our bodies and the fragility of our physical being. Here are three other films that exemplify body horror that’s unique to Cronenberg.
“Videodrome” (1983)
In 1983 Cronberg had a stellar year helming two quality horror films. The first was “The Dead Zone”; the other was “Videodrome,” a film that gets under your skin. The president of a trashy TV channel (James Woods) descends into a vortex of murder, kink, and mutated bodies when he investigates a mysterious TV show called “Videodrome” whose contestants are being murdered. Yes, there are ample amounts of blood and bodily-centered violence. What makes a mark here is how Cronenberg filters much of the body horror through objects like telephones and televisions. That choice — to explore how human intimacy is increasingly mediated through technology –enables the film to spawn some undeniably strange yet tactile imagery. Here, VHS tapes pulsate like living organs, TV sets can sweat and be caressed like human skin. My favorite is a man ripping open his own stomach to pull out a loaded gun. ★ ★ ★½
“The Fly” (1986)
Eerie, intelligent, and emotionally moving, “The Fly” (1986) is a film I hold in high regard. Cronenberg’s remake of the ’50s classic about a scientist who slowly transforms into a fly uses the gore and grotesque images of the genre to get at something very human. Specifically, a man’s gradual transformation into a monster illustrates the horror of watching someone you love slowly die. The makeup and effects are top-notch, and the script wisely keeps most of the action in one location. But what elevates the movie is the relationship between Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. The two inspire genuine empathy as a couple who love each other but are in conflict with their own bodies. ★★★★
“eXistenZ” (1999)
Back in the late 1990s, we got several films about people trapped in artificial realities — “The Matrix” (1999), “The Thirteenth Floor” (1999), “Dark City” (1998) — but the weirdest of the bunch was “eXistenZ” (1999). In this bizarre body horror–gamer movie, we follow a game designer who, after escaping an attempt on her life, must take refuge in the artificial reality game she has created. What is effective is how tactile and body-centered the movie is. In this world, computers twitch and pulsate like organs, guns are made out of teeth and bones, and videogame play resembles a strange kind of intercourse. It all culminates in a mind-bending ending that contains one of my favorite last lines in a film. ★ ★ ★½
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