From a basic, storytelling perspective, of course you're right; that was the main purpose the son served: to provide additional motivation for the primary character. Same with the wife, really. The changes in the family (for the most part) I thought felt organic and natural.

But then, as I've indicated countless times throughout my life, I'm woefully behind seeing the "great" films and while I fancy myself a critical thinker in general, I'm fairly easily satisfied with movies. My taste isn't terribly eclectic or evolved. Maybe I just haven't seen enough of the "good stuff."

Dead Ringers, followed closely by The Fly

Videodrome

Love Videodrome and Scanners, but The Fly would be my favorite.

It's not his best movie, but I love Scanners, so that's my vote.

The Brood. I still get creeped out when I see toddlers with the hoods on their jackets pulled up.

Rabid Awesome movie.

"One minute you're normal, the next RABID!"

^ What do you mean by "getting it"? I saw it for the first time last year and found it genuinely creepy, but I don't know what there was to "get." The movie intrigued me though, so I would love to learn more.


I voted for The Fly, but I love all of his stuff. Naked Lunch is pretty good when you consider how fucked up the source material was, and The Dead Zone is quite underrated IMO.

Way too many great films here for me to pick a clear favorite. Cronenberg is one of the most unique and creative directors working today.

Edit: Also, he's not a bad actor either.

I've seen History of Violence, Spider (fell asleep), Dead Ringers, The Fly, and Eastern Promises. Violence is my favorite.

I love bizarre movies... -kd5-

What, no Fast Company?! For SHAME!
Actually, I really considered Dead Ringers and The Fly, but had to finally go with Videodrome. It's the movie that really says everything there needs to be said about Cronenberg's vision and style, and it's as creepy as sci-fi gets.

Dead Ringers

The Fly
The Dead Zone
eXistenZ

These are the only films of his I like, in that order.

eXistenZ is a masterpiece. This list is tough, it's hard to pick one, but I picked eXistenZ so that more people will check it out. With all the hype about Inception right now, I highly recomend existenz. Great film

A History Violence

also love Naked Lunch, Eastern Promises, Videodrome, the Fly, Dead Ringers...... most of his films. I even liked Crash.

David Cronenberg is one of my most watched directors from my collection.

Slight Spoiler for another movie...



... I remember seeing To Die For opening night and realizing Nicole Kidman's character's fate was sealed when he was the man who stopped her car at the end. That was probably the best wink to film buffs I've ever seen.

It's definitely an underappreciated film. While not his best, I'm surprised that it doesn't have a bigger following.

Videodrome

was easily my favorite of the scifi / "computer world" movies to come out that year.

Oh, I love eXistenZ! It's a great movie that I think should have been more popular, as mentioned.

The thing about Cronenberg more than any other director is his movies get under your skin. They can be creepy, but it's more than that. Like Dead Ringers, for example. If it was on cable I had to watch it, I couldn't turn it off and I thought about long after my first viewing. It was disturbing and twisted like most of his movies, but still accessible...unlike Kubrick (for me).

My favorite movie of his though is The Fly. Seriously, what a messed up ending to a perfect gross out movie. I stll get chills when Jeff Goldblum arm wrestles that dude at the diner!

Went with 'Spider'. Thought this was terrific. I do love most of his work, but think 'Spider' is more succinct than some of his other films.

I really loved A Dangerous Method. Cronenberg just keeps delivering. He is incredibly consistent and continues to improve on his craft. A very deft filmmaker indeed.

I don't see all of the his film except for one film I saw in A History of Violence and so I like it