David Cronenberg arrived in 1969 with his debut movie, the science fiction release Stereo. By 1975, he was one of the biggest names in the horror genre. While he hasn't made a true horror movie since the 1990s, his filmography consists of some of the most respected and critically acclaimed horror movies in history.
What makes Cronenberg's horror movies different is that they are as much cerebral as they are horrific. Cronenberg has no problem with gore and body horror is a big part of his cinematic style, but he also looks to delve deeper into what makes something scary, and as a result, he is an influential figure in the industry for aspiring horror filmmakers.
Naked Lunch (1991)
Naked Lunch is a science fiction horror movie from 1991 based on the surrealistic novel by William S. Burroughs. Cronenberg created a cult classic out of his adaptation of a book that most fans considered unfilmable.
In the movie, an exterminator learns his wife is using his insecticide as a recreational drug and soon believes the drug is turning people into insects. The movie is a dark look at a tortured man who can't seem to get his vices under control, with his hallucinations and delusions both frightening and horrific.
eXistenZ (1999)
Jude Law and Jennifer Jason Leigh star in eXistenZ, a 1999 science fiction horror movie by David Cronenberg. The movie has Leigh as a video game designer playing a virtual reality game when she is targeted by assassins. Law is a trainee who is brought into the game to help her.
eXistenZ hit the same time as The Matrix, and while both lived in a VR world, Cronenberg's movie was less sci-fi tech but gorier and disturbing, taking the sci-fi ideas and infusing them with the body horror that the director specializes in, making it more disturbing and visceral than Naked Lunch.
Rabid (1977)
When David Cronenberg directed Rabid, he was in the middle of his experimental phase of horror movie-making early in his career. The movie was an independent release and allowed Cronenberg to let his imagination run wild. What resulted was one of the most successful Canadian movies of all time, at that point.
Marilyn Chambers stars in the lead role as Rose, a woman involved in a motorcycle accident who received an experimental treatment. This causes her to develop an orifice under her arm that includes a stinger that infects those she attacks. The movie is dark and disturbing but was held back by its budget limitations.
Shivers (1975)
Shivers was the first horror movie that David Cronenberg directed. The movie was pure body horror about parasites that takes over the function of a human body. The reviews early were mostly negative but, as with most of Cronenberg's movies, it became a cult classic in later years.
What holds the movie down is that it is not as smart as his later horror movies, but was much better than exploitation movies of its era. Shivers is full of violence, blood, and gore, and does enough to satisfy the most devoted horror movie fans.
The Brood (1979)
The Brood is where David Cronenberg's horror movies really began to shine. Released in 1979, the movie took the ideas from his earlier releases and pushed them to the limit, while adding subtext to make them more than just gory horrific scenes.
The movie is about a mad scientist who founds an institute that creates clones which he operates using mind control. It was panned by critics when it came out but was reevaluated and now has an 82% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. The Brood rises above his earlier efforts thanks to a focus on the fear of parenthood, making it one of the best horror movies of the 1970s.
Scanners (1981)
David Cronenberg's Scanners was a science-fiction horror movie about people who had telepathic and telekinetic powers and fit in well with other similar movies of its time like Carrie and Firestarter. However, Cronenberg took it much further than those King adaptations with some genuinely horrific moments.
Michael Ironside starred as a scanner who waged war against a weapons developer known as ConSec. Scanners took the idea of counter-culturalism in America and showed what happened when that became the dominant culture. It also added a strong batch of special effects to give it a horrifically visceral look as one of cinema's best body horror movies.
The Dead Zone (1983)
Stephen King had several of his first books turned into movies shortly after their publication. While some were top-quality releases, David Cronenberg's The Dead Zone was one of the best. The story was about a young man named Johnny Smith who could see glimpses of the future by touching someone.
This gave Cronenberg a chance to work on a very different type of horror movie. In The Dead Zone, the director didn't use his normal brand of body horror and instead created a movie that was full of tension and suspense, with a great lead performance by Christopher Walken as the anchor.
Videodrome (1983)
Videodrome was arguably David Cronenberg's smartest horror movie and one that remains a cult classic to this day, with a pristine Criterion Collection release for fans to relive the experience. James Woods stars as a UHF television producer who discovers a broadcast signal showing violence and torture.
However, the shows on this signal mind-controls the viewers and cause strange hallucinations. Videodrome was a box office bomb and critics when it came out dismissed it as weird. However, that same description was used by those who praised the movie's innovative and stunningly horrific images of body horror, making it one of the scariest movies of the 1980s.
Dead Ringers (1988)
In 1988, David Cronenberg released Dead Ringers, a movie that starred Jeremy irons in two roles as twin brothers, both gynecologists who operate a successful practice. However, the brothers have a diabolical plan where they seduce women, but when one brother becomes emotionally attached to a woman, it destroys their relationship.
This David Cronenberg movie is one of his best and won a lot of awards, including 10 at the 1989 Genie Awards for the best in Canadian cinema. Irons also won awards for his acting, giving each brother a district personality. The movie is disturbing and stands as one of the best Canadian horror movies ever made.
The Fly (1986)
David Cronenberg's best horror movie was his 1986 remake of The Fly. The original movie with Vincent Price was a campy classic horror movie, but Cronenberg took the idea and turned it into a disgusting and brilliant body horror movie with Jeff Goldblum as a man slowly mutating into a human-fly hybrid.
The movie was the only David Cronenberg movie to win an Oscar, this one for Best Makeup. It was also one of his biggest box office successes, making $60.6 million and sitting at 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. The Fly stands as one of the best horror remakes in movie history.