I’m usually the horror fan who gets annoyed when people try to argue certain films aren’t horror films. It’s not an extreme departure like The Straight Story (1999) was for David Lynch ( Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive) or Music of the Heart (1999) was for Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream), yet it’s a departure all the same. That’s maybe why I’d place it somewhere in the middle of the films of his I’ve seen. I would still say that The Dead Zone is one of his more restrained, normal horror films. There were also a couple of other non-horror features. I see he directed a movie about drag-racing called Fast Company (1979). I originally thought The Dead Zone (1983) was Cronenberg’s first departure from his usual over-the-top body horror. My impression was wrong. I was in high school at the time, so my teenage libido was going into overdrive. Someone told me it had some pretty memorable sex scenes. I’m talking about the movie about sex and car crashes starring Holly Hunter (Raising Arizona, Broadcast News) and James Spader ( Less Than Zero, Pretty in Pink). No, not the much-derided 2004 Best Picture Oscar winner, which I’d probably still defend. There’s still plenty of Cronenberg films that, horror or not, I still haven’t seen.
While I appreciate some of the satire Cronenberg delved into, I just don’t really like the film. But Rabid (1977) I only thought was decent. I remember Scanners (1981) being good (and who can forget that exploding head?!). Cronenberg’s style is just not my brand of horror, though I do enjoy his remake of The Fly (1986). Those are other films I’d never want to watch again. Along those lines, I wonder if Salo (1975) or Dogtooth (2009) would count as body horror. An example of that would be The Human Centipede series-I would never desire to watch those again. Cronenberg’s body horror doesn’t unnerve me. I’m not the biggest fan of body horror, which Cronenberg is significantly associated with. I have mixed feelings towards Cronenberg’s work within the horror genre.
And even though Cronenberg is more known as a horror director, my favorite films of his are non-horror, such as Maps to the Stars (2014) and A History of Violence (2005), which are two of his more recent films. It might be more accurate to say that Cronenberg wouldn’t be on a list of my favorite directors.
Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying I dislike the guy or his collective body of work. I suppose that might sound like I’m off to a bad start, considering that’s what we’re here for. I’m not the biggest fan of David Cronenberg.
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