A site I occasionally contribute to (Midwest Film Journal) is doing a series on David Cronenberg during March. I typically try to contribute to as many series as I can, but Cronenberg was a bit of a blindspot for me. But I had recently enjoyed Crimes of the Future a lot more than I expected to, so I volunteered to cover that film. As I wrote my article for Crimes, I felt that it lacked the perspective of Cronenberg’s entire career. This was partly intentional, as I wanted to comment on a non-fan’s experience with the film, especially since Cronenberg’s body horror fans had expressed disappointment in the film.
I’m proud of the article I wrote, and I could have left it at that, but the podcasts I listen to have put me in completionist mode. With Gourley and Rust tend to take on entire franchises (which led me to rewatch every Final Destination last week, so be on the lookout for that ranking, as well) and Blank Check almost exclusively works through a director’s entire filmography (coincidentally, Cronenberg is a possible future subject for them, so fingers crossed on that one so I don’t feel like I’m alone in watching all these movies). So lately I’ve been watching all these franchises and filmographies to keep up with the podcasts I listen to, so it just made sense to me to do that with Cronenberg, especially since he was such a blindspot for me.
Having made it through every film, I realized two things. First, my opinion of Crimes of the Future didn’t change; after all, I try to judge a movie on its own, not as part of a career. Second, I’m a Cronenberg fan. Before I dove into these movies, I thought I just liked his non-body horror Viggo Mortensen stuff. But as it turns out, I like damn near everything he’s made, and his career is much more varied than people give him credit for.
Finally, I wanted to point out a couple of oddities I came across in the IMDb trivia section of most of Cronenberg’s movies. On his more recent movies, some bitter Canuck has added a trivia entry along the lines that even though Cronenberg has been a champion of Canadian cinema and actors, he chose not to use Canadian actors in the starring roles, etc. They even go so far as to give him shit for not filming certain movies in Canada, like Eastern Promises and A Dangerous Method. Because, you know, Russian gangsters and Sigmund Freud are the first things that come to mind when you think of Canada. On a more positive note, some Cronenberg fan has added a trivia entry for nearly every film about how the studio didn’t have faith in the film and failed to promote it properly causing the film to bomb. Sure, that’s why Crimes of the Future wasn’t a hit. It has nothing to do with the fact that Cronenberg has always been more interested in challenging his audience rather than making money.
Anyway, enough rambling. I’ll try to keep these entries short since there are 22 of them. As always, this is just my personal ranking, and I imagine no two Croenenberg fans would ever come up with identical lists. Here’s my ranking of every David Cronenberg film.
22. Crimes of the Future
This is the 1970 experimental film, not the recent, mostly unrelated version. The first two movies Cronenberg made are pretty much student films, and I couldn’t get into them at all. And this one features some truly disturbing shit that I found unnecessary.
21. Stereo
This is Cronenberg’s first film, but once again this is basically a silent studio film. It was like watching random scenes with the voiceover of someone reading a research essay. Not a good time.
20. Fast Company
This drag racing movie isn’t bad, but it just feels like a director-for-hire job even though Cronenberg clearly has a love of cars. Aside from that, there’s nothing interesting going on with this one.
19. Cosmopolis
From this point forward, I like every film, so don’t think that this placement is indicative of the quality of the film. It’s just that this one interested me the least. I think if I had read the source material, I would appreciate this one more. As it is, I still enjoy Pattinson’s performance and the general insanity of the film.
18. Shivers
I consider this to be Cronenberg’s first proper film. It’s a fun, low budget sex zombie movie that I mainly enjoyed because of all the Canadian weirdos Cronenberg had to cast. Joe Silver was a standout, mainly because of a scene in which he’s eating a sandwich and matter-of-factly describing some crazy shit about parasites and an inappropriate relationship his colleague was having.
17. Spider
Ralph Fiennes is good in this film about a recently released mental patient working through his personal history and trauma. It’s just that this is such a slog to get through, which is rare for Cronenberg. I still found it compelling at times, but it’s one of the only films on this list that I thought was too long.
16. Maps to the Stars
Not Cronenberg’s most subtle work as it’s not unique to claim that Hollywood is full of fucked up people. Still, the buildup of nihilistic, horrible behavior from nearly every character leads to a satisfying series of fucked up events. But there is a fire effect near the end that is so bad it mars the entire film for me.
15. Rabid
This zombie/armpit vampire exploitation movie is a lot of fun. Joe Silver shows up again, which is nice. You could really see the beginnings of Cronenberg’s thematic future with this one. Oh, and Canada is the place to be if a zombie-ish outbreak occurs because they converted their sanitation department into a zombie kill and dispose squad with frightening speed.
14. The Brood
This is the most disturbing film in Cronenberg’s filmography for me, primarily because he has stated that a lot of this film is in response to a divorce/custody battle he was involved in. And there is a downright horrifying scene that takes place in a kindergarten classroom. I really need a follow up with those child extras to find out if they all turned out all right or if this movie fucked them up for life.
13. M. Butterfly
I didn’t even know this film existed, much less that Cronenberg directed it, but I was pleasantly surprised by this. Mainly, I enjoyed that it moved so quickly when period pieces such as this can sometimes drag on and on. Here, years fly by in the story. Cronenberg has always been an efficient director, and this film is a great example of that. He’s also capable of getting amazing performances out of high level actors, which is certainly the case here with Jeremy Irons (more on him farther down the list) and John Lone.
12. Dead Ringers
Now I’m getting into territory in which people will emphatically disagree with me, as Dead Ringers is a favorite among many fans. To be clear, I like every movie from 19 on down, so this is not a knock against Ringers, this is just personal preference. Still, this movie is an achievement. First off, Cronenberg does an amazing job of making it seem like there are really two Jeremy Ironses throughout. Of course, that is a bit easier when Irons is giving two completely different, and great, performances. You forget that it’s actually just one actor, and that’s the best possible outcome for a film like this.
11. Crash
Unfortunately, this has to forever be referred to as “the good Crash” after the hated Best Picture winner went with the same title. Anyway, this is a wildly different, and better film. Perhaps at the time, it was shocking. But when you watch this as part of a two-week long marathon of Cronenberg, it seems kind of normal. Still, I got a kick out of this just for how fucking horny every character is. I wish the film would have leaned into the dark comedy of it a bit more, but it’s still enjoyable on that level. It also makes for a good double feature with Shivers as both movies are essentially about sex zombies.
10. A Dangerous Method
I would not have thought this film would crack the top ten when I first set out to rank these films. I watched it when it first came out and had forgotten most of it, which I assumed meant it wasn’t very good. Rewatching it, I found it very compelling, even if it is necessarily talky. Like Dead Ringers and M. Butterfly before it, this is all about the performances, and Fassbender, Mortensen, and (especially) Knightley are all fantastic.
9. Naked Lunch
Weird, even by Cronenberg standards. He found a way to adapt an “unfilmable” novel by also making it a quasi biography of William Burroughs. This is definitely one you either go with or dismiss, and I went with it.
8. Scanners
I always think I like this movie more than I actually do. In my memory, it’s great (that fucking head explosion!), but when I watch it, I take issue with a lot of it, mainly because I think the story is too ambitious. But when it works, it really works. As I compiled my list, this one kept creeping up more and more even though I found it weaker than films I ranked below it. I guess I just admire what the film tried to be more than what it actually is.
7. The Fly
If I didn’t lose you with Dead Ringers’s ranking, then I have now. Look, I totally get how this could be someone’s favorite Croneneberg, and in many ways, I think it is his best film on a technical level. But this shit truly disgusts me at times, making it much less rewatchable than a lot of his other films, and rewatchability matters to me.
6. The Dead Zone
This is another film elevated by the star performance. Along with the performance, Cronenberg makes you truly feel the cursed nature of Christopher Walken’s “gift.” Usually with a film like this, I find myself annoyed when a character doesn’t want to use their special ability, but with this one, I get why it would suck to have that power. Cronenberg and Walken brought surprising depth and emotion to what could have been a Stephen King cash grab.
5. eXistenZ
Now this is what I think of as typical Cronenberg. There are weird, flesh pod things, guns made out of flesh and bone that shoot teeth, etc. It’s gross and fucked up, and the whole thing is a constant mind fuck in which you never know what’s real and what’s not. In other words, it’s one of Cronenberg’s fun movies.
4. Crimes of the Future
Yet another ranking that will lose people. For my full thoughts, check out the article I wrote for Midwest Film Journal. But I’ll just point out here that this film turned me into a Cronenberg fan and prompted me to watch all 22 of his movies.
3. Videodrome
This is Cronenberg’s career-defining film even though the majority of his work doesn’t involve body horror. But this isn’t so much about body horror as it is about the dangers technology presents to humanity, which is a common theme in his filmography. The technology (VHS tapes) might date this film, but its themes and warnings are timeless. And it features Cronenberg’s most infectious line: “Long live the new flesh!”
2. Eastern Promises
I like this film more each time I watch it. The naked fight and the vicious throat slashings get a lot of attention, but this is another film anchored by performance. This is arguably Mortensen’s best work with Cronenberg (which is saying a lot). Cronenberg perfectly creates a criminal underworld for Mortensen to inhabit, and it leads to one of his most effective, emotional endings.
1. A History of Violence
This was my favorite before I started this project, and it never changed, but the reasons certainly did. Originally, I just found this to be one of Cronenberg’s most accessible and entertaining films. It is still that, with Mortensen doing great work in his first collaboration with Cronenberg and William Hurt showing up and taking over the movie with just one scene, but now I enjoy it as part of Cronenberg’s varied filmography. Yeah, he’s known as the body horror guy, but that shit is only a small portion of his 22 films. In a way, Cronenberg is like Mortensen’s character; he has a violent, disturbing past/reputation, but he also can live in the “normal” world, too. Looking back, A History of Violence is the best of both of Cronenberg’s worlds, which makes it my favorite of all his films.
