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Second Sight Films is giving two David Cronenberg classics the deluxe physical media treatment, with 4K UHD releases of 1979’s The Brood and 1981’s Scanners releasing on March 31.
Both releases are available as Limited Edition 4K UHD + Blu-ray sets, with art cards and essays (full disclosure: this writer was honored to contribute an essay on Freudian psychology for the release of The Brood!), or as standard 4K UHD or Blu-ray editions, with a stack of special features.
Starring Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar, and Art Hindle, the deeply personal The Brood was written by Cronenberg after a particularly nasty divorce:
A worried father attempts to uncover a controversial psychologist’s unconventional therapy techniques on his institutionalised wife, amidst a series of horrific murders that seem to be targeting those closest to him.
Special features on the Cronenberg-approved Second Sight release include:
- A new 4K restoration approved by Director David Cronenberg
- New audio commentary by Martyn Conterio and Kat Ellinger
- Audio commentary by William Beard
- Meet the Carveths: an interview with Actors Art Hindle & Cindy Hinds by Fangoria Editor Chris Alexander
- Producing The Brood: an interview with Executive Producer Pierre David
- Look of Rage: an interview with Cinematographer Mark Irwin
- Scoring The Brood: an interview with Composer Howard Shore
- Character for Cronenberg: an interview with Actor Robert A Silverman
- Anger Management: Cronenberg’s Brood and the Shapes of Cinematic Rage – a video essay by Leigh Singer
- Cronenberg – The Early Years: an archival interview with David Cronenberg
Following two years later, Scanners stars Stephen Lack, Jennifer O’Neill, Michael Ironside, and Patrick McGoohan, and really put Cronenberg on the map as a director and the godfather of the body horror genre:
A scientist recruits a drifter with extraordinary telepathic ability to hunt down an equally powerful ’scanner’ who, together with others of their kind, is hellbent on taking over the world.
Special features on Scanners include:
- New 4K restoration approved by Director David Cronenberg
- Dual format edition including both UHD and Blu-ray with main feature and bonus features on both discs
- UHD presented in HDR with Dolby Vision
- New audio commentary by Caelum Vatnsdal
- Audio commentary by William Beard
- My Art Keeps Me Sane: an interview with Actor Stephen Lack
- Method in his Madness: an interview with Actor Michael Ironside
- Bad Guy Dane: an interview with Actor Lawrence Dane
- The Eye of Scanners: an interview with Cinematographer Mark Irwin
- Mind Fragments: an interview with Composer Howard Shore
- The Chaos of Scanners: an interview with Executive Producer Pierre David
- Exploding Brains & Popping Veins: an interview with Makeup Effects Artist Stephan Dupuis
- Monster Kid: an interview with Makeup Effects Artist Chris Walas
- Cronenberg’s Tech Babies: a video essay by Tim Coleman
Head over to Second Sight’s official website for more information and to pre-order your copy of Scanners and The Brood. For more 4K goodness, read our rundown of 10 of the best physical media releases hitting shelves this month.
