Second Sight Films are releasing 1979s The Brood from maestro of horror David Cronenberg (Crash, Videodrome, Scanners) this month. Finally gets its highly anticipated, newly restored 4K UHD in a Limited Dual Edition Box the same day as Second Sight Films release the classic Scanners, we are treated to a wealth of David Cronenberg goodies! What an amazing month!

For those not familiar with the plot of the 1979 film The Brood follows Frank (played by Art Hindle) and his mentally ill ex-wife Nola (played by Samantha Eggar), who has been sequestered by Hal Raglan (played by Oliver Reed) a psychiatrist known for his very controversial therapy methods, as the plot thickens a series of brutal unsolved murders pile up and in pure genius Cronenberg style, we are taken along for a wild wonderful and so very weird journey. An early masterpiece and a seminal body horror classic, from the celebrated director, The Brood stars outstanding and disturbing performances from screen legend Oliver Reed (Gladiator, The Devils) and Samantha Eggar (The Collector, Dr. Dolittle) and is still as shocking and weird today as it was on its original release and I still love it! Actually I love it even more in its feature packed and upgraded picture and sound quality edition from Second Sight Films.

The Brood Limited Edition 4K UHD/ Blu-ray Box set is set for release on 31st March 2025 and will also be available as a Standard Edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray. The set is presented in a stunning rigid slipcase complete with new artwork by Krishna Shenoi and comes packed with a slew of brilliant special features. Add The Brood to your physical media collection this March. I am!

So lets delve into some of the ‘extras’ we get a new audio commentary by Martyn Conterio and Kat Ellinger as well as a second Audio commentary this time by William Beard I have those commentaries all ready to listen to but havent checked them out as yet.

I headed into the featurettes and started with Meet the Carveths: an interview with actors Art Hindle & Cindy Hinds by Fangoria editor Chris Alexander ( 20 minutes) Its a very interesting featurette although Art does like to rustle the popcorn bag and eat whilst talking so be warned- if you aren’t a fan of people eating whilst being interviewed- well I warned you! Producing The Brood: an interview with executive producer Pierre David ( 11 minutes) is a great little featurette and for those of you who pick up the Scanners bluray- Pierre is on there too , a very interesting guy to listen to as he shares his stories. We also get Look of Rage: an interview with cinematographer Mark Irwin (13 minutes) Scoring The Brood: an interview with composer Howard Shore ( 8 minutes) and Character for Cronenberg: an interview with actor Robert A Silverman (10 minutes). I was very excited to know that Robert had his own featurette. Robert is a face I recognise from several Cronenberg films over the years and its great to hear his stories.

For video essay fans we get Anger Management: Cronenberg’s The Brood and the Shapes of Cinematic Rage – a video essay by Leigh Singer (22 minutes) and of course no Cronenberg set would be complete without an interview with the man himself Cronenberg: The Early Years – an archival interview with David Cronenberg (13 minutes)

Well that covers my love of the special features on this Second Sight Films release, but is the film any good? I have seen The Brood a few times over the years but not as many times as I have seen Videodrome, Scanners, or The Fly and so what the film was about was pretty vague in my mind. The Brood is (for me anyways) definitely one of the stranger Cronenberg films and is often a film that each time I revisit it- im still not totally sure what’s going on until I get to the end. Its beautifully shot and that has emotionless cold feel to it that early Cronenberg films have (such as Rabid and Shivers) and that’s part of the reason I love Cronenberg films- its not just a story Im watching its an atmosphere im experiencing too.

Oliver Reed is fantastic in the film and within the special features you will be treated to quite a ew stories of his antics when the cameras weren’t rolling) Samantha Eggar is also great in the movie and some of her scenes- well Id love to have known what she thought when the make up was being applied to her. Definitely a memorable experience im sure! and we cannot possibly forget Cindy Hinds as Candice. I cant even imagine what id would have been like for a child actor to be in a Cronenberg film. She seems to have managed it really well as Cindy does share some of her stories in the special features.  I really enjoyed revisiting The Brood, especially in a stunning picture and sound quality version too, it does make all the difference. Is it a film that’s very easy to recommend to mainstream horror fans? Hmm well that’s tricky but its certainly a film I highly recommend to those who want to venture back into film history or of course to Cronenberg completists. The Brood is still a super chilling film and works really well alongside Rabid, and Shivers.  So yes I would say treat yourself to this one (and Scanners also) and give yourself a great body horror movie marathon!