Shocktober Days 7 & 8

#7- The Brood (1979)

King of the bizarre, David Cronenberg is an absolute legend of the horror game, with such works as the eccentric videodrome and the visually disturbing, the fly.

The broods pretty much unknown in comparison to those films and almost for good reason, holding no real unique features ignoring the sheer disturbing images seen throughout the film.

So, in this small town, kids start going batshit mental, killing people left and right, so basically it's a weird murder mystery, with the town trying to solve

the case.

For the majority the brood is a pretty enjoyable if relatively straight forward horror film with little to offer in terms of both true horror scares or unique features. The mystery does however hold you in place just long enough till the final act whereby shit kicks off and Cronenberg is unleashed. 

The final 10 minutes is what the viewer really comes for, as for the majority of the film it struggles to maintain the tension. That said the brood is good fun. Weird and peculiar tasting good fun

7/10- Wacky Cronenberg madness will have you squirming

#8 Straw dogs (1971)

I need to like look at the Imdb genres for each of these films from now on, not that straw dogs was some sappy rom-com, just more of a thriller than a horror, yet a good thriller at that.

Dustin Hoffman, every man's best friend, plays a tentative American, newly introduced to a British village, full of natives who are rather hostile to outsiders. 

This is just straight up a solid film, which refreshingly maintains significant tension throughout as the film holds the audience in its grasp through the compelling evolution of dustins character.

 The audience grows to realise the hostility in the village as dustin does and this aids considerably in the films consistent disturbing nature.

As most horrors do, straw dogs also ends in a 10 minute or so scene of havoc and bloodshed however with the character development of dustins character providing a driving force for this violence this gives meaning to the final scene, something which a large majority of horrors omit .

Although straw dogs starts a little slow, the tension grows from within, exploding in the final sequence to powerful effect.

8/10- a very solid thriller, touching on the universal fear of public discrimination



...man I'm 3 days behind