10 July 2004

Cronenberg (1983-1987)

1983 - The Dead Zone – Stephen King's personality nearly overpowers Cronenberg's in this film. Still, Cronenberg shines with the brilliant casting of Christopher Walken and the eliciting of some damn-fine subtle performances. I never noticed before that Johnny was intended as a Christ-figure, but it's incredibly blatant during the climax.

1986 - The Fly – Some criticize this film as "too commercial." Whatever its popularity at the box office, this is a classic Cronenberg movie concerned with flesh, machines, and their interactions in the future of human development. This also has to be one of the gorier movies ever released by a major Hollywood studio.

1987 - Friday the 13th: The Series: "Faith Healer" – Investigating the disease theme once again, this is a rare Cronenberg story in which the corruptive force is magic, rather than science/technology/biology. I was pleased to see Cronenberg regular Robert A. Silverman in a starring role. It was great to see the focus on the guest stars instead of the main characters; I could almost feel Cronenberg's boredom when we were forced to check in with youngsters Micki and Ryan for the sake of the series.

(comment in the main post)