David Cronenberg Movies

Since our site is called Odd Films, it’s almost a requirement that we include a list of David Cronenberg movies. While some of his more recent projects have been halfway normal (at least for him), earlier works are more like something an alien would make…an alien with really great hair, that is. A leading figure in the body horror movement, many of Cronenberg’s movies have dealt with themes of infection and body transformation. In addition to his directorial efforts, he’s also popped up as an actor in Jason X, Nightbreed, Blood and Donuts, as well as two episodes of the television series Alias.

Start with the David Cronenberg movies listed below, but keep in mind that the director has also helmed such films as Shivers, Rabid, The Brood, M. Butterfly, and Dead Ringers. Believe me, your life will never be the same after seeing Jeremy Irons as twin gynecologists.

• Eastern Promises (2007) – Naomi Watts is a British midwife who gets mixed up with the Russian Mafia in London while searching for the father of a recently-born child. Viggo Mortensen received an Oscar nomination for his role as Nikolai Luzhin, a driver and doer-of-dirty-deeds for the crime family. Vincent Cassel abandons his French sex symbol status to play Kirill, the unstable son of ruthless mob boss Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl). Cronenberg opted not to use guns in the movie, but the presence of knives still makes it a brutal affair. The most talked about scene comes when a completely naked Nikolai must fend off a pair of Chechen mobsters in a Turkish steam bath.

• Scanners (1981) – Cronenberg wrote and directed this sci-fi classic about a sinister corporation that recruits or captures those with psychic powers (known as “Scanners“). Michael Ironside plays Darryl Revok, a renegade Scanner bent on world conquest through creating an army of psychics. He’s mad, of course, and anyone who won’t join him risks having their head blown apart by his awesome mental powers. Enter good guy Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack), a Scanner who might have enough power to challenge Revok’s mad scheme. The psychic duels are something to behold, and the supporting cast includes Patrick McGoohan and Jennifer O’Neill.
• Naked Lunch (1991) – Based on the bizarre tale from writer William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch stars Peter Weller as William Lee, an exterminator who gets involved in plots involving giant bugs, talking typewriters, and a powerful narcotic made from the guts of centipedes. Also starring Ian Holm, Julian Sands, and Roy Scheider, the film takes elements from the Naked Lunch novel but also mixes into other works from Burroughs, as well as details from his completely messed-up life.
• The Fly (1986) – Scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) is working the kinks out of his invention that allows inanimate objects to be teleported from one location to another. After falling for a journalist (Geena Davis), he decides to try it on himself, but he’s horrified to learn that a common housefly got inside and is now bonded with him. As Seth slowly transforms in “Brundlefly,” Cronenberg once again gets to indulge in his fascination with body horror. Not many horror remakes are better than the original, but this is the rare exception.
• Crash (1996) – James Spader and Holly Hunter plays a couple of sexual freaks who get turned on by witnessing car crashes and/or participating in them. This leads to a number of graphic sequences of wrecks and lust, and Rosanna Arquette co-stars as a woman forced to wear heavy braces on her legs (which really gets Spader’s character hot). One of the more bizarre David Cronenberg movies you’ll ever see, and that’s saying something.
• A History of Violence (2005) – Cronenberg received great critical acclaim for this film about Tom Stall (Vigo Mortensen), a mild-mannered restaurant owner who guns down a couple of bloodthirsty robbers in self-defense. He becomes a national celebrity, but soon a crazy-looking Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris) comes calling on behalf of the Irish Mob in Philadelphia. They claim Tom is actually a runaway mobster named Joey Cusack, and they want him to take a little ride with them to Philly. Also starring Maria Bello and William Hurt.

• Videodrome (1983) – James Woods stars as Max Renn, the president of a Toronto-based cable TV station who’s always on the hunt for more extreme programming for his audience. He finds it with “Videodrome” a nasty show featuring the torture and murder of anonymous victims. Initially thinking the signal comes from Malaysia, he later learns that it originates in Pittsburgh. Setting out to track it down, Max gets caught up in a disturbing web of body transformation, religious cults, and unusual sexual practices.
• eXistenZ (1999) – The world’s greatest video game designer (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and a marketing trainee (Jude Law) are forced to go on the run when a bounty is placed on her head by unknown parties. To get the answers they seek, they’ll have to go inside the world of virtual video games, but it soon becomes increasingly difficult to tell reality from fantasy. An overlooked sci-fi gem co-starring Ian Holm, Willem Dafoe, and Sarah Polley.

• The Dead Zone (1983) – An adaptation of the Stephen King bestseller, The Dead Zone centers around Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken), a schoolteacher who’s involved in an auto accident and spends the next five years in a coma. When he comes to, he realizes that he can see a person’s past, present, and future by making physical contact. As he tries to reconnect with the life he lost, he also pits his powers against a serial killer and a U.S. Senatorial candidate (Martin Sheen) bent on global annihilation.
• Spider (2002) – An exploration of a schizophrenic mind, Spider stars Ralph Fiennes as a man who’s just been released from a mental institution. As a young boy, he witnessed the murder of his mother and her replacement by his father’s mistress. Years later, he must examine these events in his mind and try to sort fact from fiction. Lauded by critics, Spider received a very limited release in theaters, no doubt to make way for the latest animated kiddie flick.