THE BROOD vs POSSESSION

[FelipeSobreiro 54]

Hey guys! Today I unintentionally watched two bizarre supernatural / horror movies about divorce, back to back: THE BROOD (David Cronenberg, 1979) and POSSESSION (Andrzej Zulawski, 1981).

 

The styles are very different, The Brood is more clearly a B-movie, very cheaply made and with some campy elements, while Possession is more of an arthouse movie, but it's also campy in how hysterical and over the top it gets. Their point in common is that both movies deal with a family disintegrating (both movies show the wife as being the active agent of the separation) from a supernatural, creepy perspective, and they were both shot a couple of years apart.

[j_scanlon 59]

I saw both for the first time after becoming a seasoned horror fan. The Brood was very nice, but Possession completely kicked my ass. I consider it one of my all time favorite movies period, and moreso up there like Cronenbergs true masterpiece The Fly... which should also be in the canon....

[NathanGordon 1096]

Possession kills like 99% of all cinema. It's a piece of art that doesn't touch the ground.

 

The Brood is interesting but not even close. We'd have to talk Videodrome for a worthwhile comparison, or The Fly (I think Videodrome is better).

 

*Also, I don't think Possession is campy, at all. That's more about your discomfort as a viewer.

[Head Spin 112]

Possession kills like 99% of all cinema. It's a piece of art that doesn't touch the ground.

 

The Brood is interesting but not even close. We'd have to talk Videodrome for a worthwhile comparison, or The Fly (I think Videodrome is better).

 

*Also, I don't think Possession is campy, at all. That's more about your discomfort as a viewer.

 

I agree with both of that. I'd love to see Videodrome vs. some horror movie based on the fear of some other media. Has there been a Canon-worthy internet-paranoia movie? You could do Ring for a TV vs. TV horror movie.

 

Or just do Videodrome vs. Network for the clashiest TV battle of them all.

[FelipeSobreiro 54]

*Also, I don't think Possession is campy, at all. That's more about your discomfort as a viewer.

 

Maybe I used the term wrong... I don't mean hysterical and campy like an Almodóvar movie or Rocky Horror Picture Show, which are tongue-in-cheek and melodramatic, aware of their own tackiness.

 

By hysterical I mean LITERALLY hysterical as in insane (not funny), over the top, out of control. Every emotion is explosive. My favorite scenes of Possession are of just Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill SCREAMING at each other's faces, running around their apartment.

 

And by campy... I don't know. I guess that's the wrong way to frame it but I didn't know how else to say it. I think there's some amazing scenery-chewing all over the movie, it may be played straight, "unaware of it's own tackiness" (to bring that point back) as a lot of high-brow art does, but in the end it just approximates camp without even wanting to. There's a scene with Adjani having some sort of breakdown in a subway station and she's writhing all over the floor and throwing milk on herself and bumping against the walls and drooling and kicking... It's almost a performance art piece, that perhaps someone more sophisticated would watch and take very seriously but I found almost funny in how intense it's played.

 

Still, I wouldn't describe Possession as straight-up campy, you're right. Sorry for the rambling response!

[FelipeSobreiro 54]

And if The Brood isn't a right match, how about POSSESSION vs REPULSION?