David Cronenberg is the absolute master of the yucky when it comes to horror films. From The Fly to Videodrome, his use of body horror is absolutely disgusting in the most fascinating way. His stories are always interesting, working with themes of transformation both of the body and the mind, and occasionally, the spirit.
He also makes sure to select kind of off-the-wall stories to adapt, such as his film Naked Lunch, based on an author by the ex-heroin addict and Beatnik luminary William S. Burroughs, who wrote about things like receiving transmissions from interdimensional governments and drugs that don’t exist. Anyway, enough about Burroughs. Let’s take a look at the best and worst that the modern-day Kafka of film David Cronenberg has to offer.
Best: Eastern Promises (2007) - 7.6/10
While this film might not necessarily be what most Cronenberg fans would think of when thinking of their favorite Cronenberg films, it tops our list according to IMDb with a 7.6/10 which is a pretty decent score. While this isn’t really the body horror that Cronenberg built his name on, it’s pretty safe to say that he really switched gears later in life, and that makes sense in regards to this film since it was released in 2007.
Eastern Promises tells us the tale of the death of a Russian youth who lives in London who leaves posthumous clues to her midwife that she unravels and shortly realizes that perhaps the Russian youth was assaulted by the Russian mafia, which may mean that the father of the child she died giving birth to is a Russian mobster. While the midwife has a responsibility to the friend she delivered the child for, it’s maybe not best to meddle in the affairs of organized crime.
Worst: Rabid (1977) - 6.3
Rabid is a Cronenberg film that came out in ‘77, pretty much in the earlier part of his career after he stopped making shorts and had just a couple other films under his belt. The film tells the story of a woman who decides that she wants to get an experimental plastic surgery which is both a very Cronenbergian idea and a very bad one. Any time the words experimental and surgery are grouped together in fictional media you can almost always assume that everyone involved is in for a bad time shortly after.
Anyway, she develops an insatiable bloodlust and ends up munching on half the town, creating an epidemic. Pretty much your standard zombie story, but zombies kind of are the original body horror, along with werewolves which Cronenberg surprisingly hasn’t messed with.
Best: The Fly (1986) - 7.5/10
The Fly is actually most likely one of the most viscerally disgusting movies you could ever watch, and definitely kicks things up a notch from its source material, a Vincent Price film. It tells the story of a scientist played by the always charming, sometimes a disgusting fly creature Jeff Goldblum, who creates a machine that can teleport humans. This seems like an incredibly important invention! What could possibly go wrong? Oh no… There’s a bug in the system! That pun was most definitely intended because his DNA gets mixed with the DNA of a housefly that gets caught in the machine when he tests it.
For those of you who have heard of this film and just haven’t watched it because you find the plot cheesy and dated, put those perceptions behind you and watch it if you think you have the stomach for it, you won’t be disappointed. This film has some of the most disgusting special effects ever captured on film.
Worst: Maps To The Stars (2014) - 6.2/10
A 2014 film that really seems particularly outside of Cronenberg’s wheelhouse, Maps To The Stars is a film released in 2014, again after he had noticeably switched up his modus operandi. It’s a character study about a family of people in Hollywood who is searching after fame, dealing with their own struggles, and the struggles of the internal interaction of the members of the family.
Aside from that, the film looks into each of their specific traumas as they try to work their way through what’s made them who they are, and put themselves back together on the other side.
Best: A History Of Violence (2005) - 7.4/10
A History Of Violence is one of the more highly-rated recent David Cronenberg films, coming out in the year 2005 and starring the always intense Viggo Mortenson. One night when a mild-mannered man who’s portrayed by Mortenson gets his diner robbed, he foils the robbery attempt and finds his quiet world suddenly isn’t so quiet anymore. It’s a fairly familiar story of someone who’s just kind of drifting through a happy life being thrust into the depths of the criminal world.
He ends up killing two of the criminals who attempted to rob him and garners a bunch of media attention for it. After he gains a high profile as a local hero, he begins to be hunted by a mysterious man who thinks that he’s been robbed by Mortenson’s character in the past.
Worst: Fast Company (1979) - 5.5/10
Fast Company is a strangely out of character film for Cronenberg, likely because he hadn’t really gone through his trademark body-horror phase in any meaningful way yet. Fast Company is a drama/sports film which is just about as far away from what you’d think Cronenberg would be interested in doing as possible.
It tells the story of a driver and his apprentice being double-crossed by their manager after he makes a deal with one of their competitors and their car is stolen. They decide to steal back the car and win the upcoming race without their manager’s help. The only issue is that both their manager and their competitor will stop at nothing to make sure they win the race.
Best: Videodrome - (1983) 7.3/10
Videodrome may be one of the single best distillations of everything that makes a Cronenberg movie a Cronenberg movie other than The Fly, or two other films which unfortunately didn’t make this list in either category, called The Brood and Naked Lunch. Videodrome tells the story of ann incredibly sleazy cable producer whose channel specializes in finding the most violent, graphic, appalling content it can possibly air.
He comes across a signal called Videodrome and as he learns more about it, he starts to realize that maybe what we see on TV has become more real than our every day lives.
Worst: Cosmopolis (2012) - 5.0/10
Cosmopolis is an American remake of a French film starring Robert Pattinson in a role as a billionaire (no, he’s not Batman just yet) who made his fortune on his own.
On his drive to go and get a haircut from his favorite barber, his journey is continuously interrupted by acquaintances, business associates, and protestors. Eventually, through all his encounters throughout the day, he slowly develops a sneaking suspicion that someone is trying to kill him.
Best: Dead Ringers (1988) - 7.3/10
This film almost plays out like a really messed up version of an episode of My Strange Addiction. It’s about 2 twin gynecologists that are obsessed with being alike. They swap places whenever the more confident brother is “done” with a woman he’s had a romantic relationship with and his brother takes over as him.
Eventually, a woman finds out about their sick game and is disgusted, despite carrying on a relationship with one of the brothers. The other brother ends up becoming depressed and addicted to prescription drugs. After this, the other brother follows suit to keep up their similarities.
Worst: Crimes Of The Future (1970) - 5.0/10
Crimes Of The Future only gets a 5/10, which actually makes sense considering it was a really early film being released in 1970. It’s also a comedy and a sci-film, and at least one of these genres is really far out of the norm for Cronenberg’s usual genre comfort zone.
The film’s plot is legitimately disturbing for a comedy, but there are definitely early foreshadowings of his later body-horror type films, especially Naked Lunch. The film tells of a dermatologist searching for his master, who may have had a hand in wiping out the entire adult female population with his cosmetics.
