CHILDREN OF THE NEW FLESH

This collection of essays, interviews, and short fiction explores the provocative themes and undeniable impact of a cult filmmaker.

David Cronenberg enthusiasts place his more popular movies, from Videodrome to The Fly, in the “body horror” subgenre. They’re perhaps best remembered for scenes of deliriously grotesque and fleshy metamorphoses. But this book’s editors, Kelso and Rice, spotlight seven early works from the Canadian writer/director—shorts, feature films, and episodes of TV anthology series from the 1960s and ’70s. A variety of contributors examine Cronenberg-ian themes, like “aberrant sexuality” and horror coming from within (without a tangible “external threat”), which run throughout the filmmaker’s oeuvre. Even without the visceral imagery, readers will easily see his distinctive tone and the abstract concepts he expresses physically (for example, telepaths in the film Stereo reaching elevated states of consciousness via “sexual experimentation”). Not surprisingly, linking so many of Cronenberg’s movies sparks many analyses of his later filmography as well, especially throughout the ’80s and ’90s. While much of the text dissects cinematic themes, the volume does touch on the auteur’s intriguing background as he began working in a subgenre that was relatively unknown in his home country. Elsewhere in this collection, writers deliver short fiction inspired by Cronenberg’s legacy or his early work. Matthew M. Bartlett’s “The Lie Chair,” for example, adapts a 1976 TV episode but adds a clever twist. Notwithstanding a potpourri of voices, the fictional stories boast a Cronenberg-ian flair. In Elle Nash’s incisive “artGOD,” she writes: “My toes graze the revolting flesh. / Her fist is a veiny organ.” The editors round out their book with illustrations by various artists as well as interviews with other filmmakers, novelists who have collaborated with Cronenberg, and the director himself, who’s as intriguing and indelible as the movies he’s bestowed upon the world.

New and longtime Cronenberg fans will devour this intelligent, earnest, and comprehensive tribute.