The David Cronenberg Movie List

by ryankl

The David Cronenberg catalogue as I see it. In order.

 

1. The Brood

2. Videodrome

3. The Fly

4. The Dead Zone

5. Eastern Promises

6. A History Of Violence

7. Scanners

8. eXistenZ

9. Naked Lunch

10. Rabid

11. Shivers

12. Dead Ringers

13. Spider

14. Crash

15. M. Butterfly

NA – Crimes of the Future

NA – Stereo

NA – A Dangerous Mind

NA – Cosmopolis

 

Thoughts.

Yeah, I’ve even read the novel of The Brood. Solid, haunting, atmospheric stuff. Must see. There’s something so brutal and nasty and yet not schlocky about it. It’s one of the few true smart horror flicks.

Is it weird to say Videodrome is one of those flicks that defined my childhood in the 80s?

I honestly do think The Dead Zone is that good. The book is still better but this movie is so damn solid. Walken nails it, Sheen nails it, there’s not much wrong with it. And it’s got Sheriff as a Skeritt. Wait, scratch that, reverse it.

Crash is one that drops even further after having read the book. That’s the only book where I’ve finished it and felt so damn dirty about it afterwards. That book lured me in, tricked me, and did things to me.

Surely someone out there has Dead Ringers as their favourite flick. That’s scary.

Scanners was never an instant classic for me. It’s good, sure, better than so much else, but it’s still so far behind so much other stuff of Cronenberg’s.

I stand by Eastern Promises just being that touch better than AHOV. Viggo is solid, and so different, in both but AHOV loses it in the third act, EP ramps it up a little.

The Fly would go down as the best remake of all time were it not for Carpenter’s The Thing.

eXistenZ is so surprisingly strong and fun. You kind of forget just what it does and then you watch it again and go, oh yeah, nice. Extra point for the PKD reference, too.

Naked Lunch is one that actually transcends the book. I would never read that book again but the flick will tempt me from time to time.

I remember being really underwhelmed and then disillusioned with Spider. Glad to see him rise up from those dying ashes.

And if I could find his earliest stuff I’d be so damn happy. If only…

I still haven’t gotten to his latest two. I will. Then I’ll slide them into the list. I’ll probably tell you about it.

This is just my list. What’s yours?

Advertisement