31 Days of Horror Blu-rays: The Brood (1979)

A disturbed woman is receiving a radical form of psychotherapy at a remote, mysterious institute. Meanwhile, her five-year-old daughter, under the care of her estranged husband, is being terrorized by a group of demonic beings. How these two story lines connect is the shocking and grotesque secret of this bloody tale of monstrous parenthood from David Cronenberg, starring Oliver Reed and Samantha Eggar. With its combination of psychological and body horror, The Brood laid the groundwork for many of the director’s films to come, but it stands on its own as a personal, singularly scary vision.

One of the best Horror movies of the 70's, and our favorite Cronenberg flick, this Criterion Edition of The Brood is an absolute Must Own. It's a gorgeous disc with a brand new 2k transfer and all, and the movie itself plays just as well today as it did when it premiered back in 1979.

• New, restored 2K digital transfer, supervised by director David Cronenberg, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray.
• New documentary about the making of the film and Cronenberg’s early work, featuring actor Samantha Eggar, executive producer Pierre David, cinematographer Mark Irwin, assistant director John Board, and special makeup effects artists Rick Baker (Videodrome) and Joe Blasco (Shivers, Rabid)
• New, restored 4K digital transfer of Cronenberg’s 1970 feature Crimes of the Future, supervised by the director, plus a 2011 interview with Cronenberg about his early career.
• Interview from 2013 with actors Art Hindle and Cindy Hinds.
• Appearance by actor Oliver Reed on The Merv Griffin Show from 1980.
• Radio spot.
• PLUS: An essay by critic Carrie Rickey.

The Brood is an all-time classic that needs to be a part of everyone's Horror repertoire. As far as terrifying children go, it doesn't get much better than this. If you don't know this movie, you need to become familiar with it. Real familiar... like over-eager date familiar. That's right. Touch it. No means yes.