David Cronenberg

Filmmakers

David Paul Cronenberg (March 15, 1943) is a Canadian filmmaker. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation, infection, technology and the intertwining of the psychological with the physical. In the first third of his career he explored these themes mostly through horror and science fiction films such as Shivers (1975), with Paul Hampton, Lynn Lowry, and Barbara Steele; Rabid (1977), with Marilyn Chambers, Frank Moore, Joe Silver and Howard Ryshpan; The Brood (1979), with Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar, and Art Hindle; Scanners (1981), with Stephen Lack, Jennifer O’Neill, Michael Ironside, and Patrick McGoohan; Videodrome (1983), with James Woods, Sonja Smits, and Debbie Harry; and The Fly (1986), with Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis and John Getz; although his work has since expanded beyond these genres.

Other notable films include Fast Company (1979), with William Smith, John Saxon, Claudia Jennings, and Nicholas Campbell; The Dead Zone (1983), with Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt, Herbert Lom, Martin Sheen, Anthony Zerbe, and Colleen Dewhurst; Dead Ringers (1988), with Jeremy Irons and Geneviève Bujold; Naked Lunch (1991), with Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Julian Sands, and Roy Scheider; M. Butterfly (1993), with Irons, John Lone, Ian Richardson, Barbara Sukowa, and Annabel Leventon; Crash (1996), with James Spader, Holly Hunter, Elias Koteas, Deborah Kara Unger, and Rosanna Arquette; eXistenZ (1999), with Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law, Holm, Don McKellar, Callum Keith Rennie, Sarah Polley, Christopher Eccleston, Willem Dafoe, and Robert A. Silverman.

Later films include Spider (2002), with Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson, Gabriel Byrne, John Neville, and Lynn Redgrave; A History of Violence (2005), with Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, William Hurt, Ed Harris; Eastern Promises (2007), with Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, Sinéad Cusack and Armin Mueller-Stahl; A Dangerous Method (2011), with Keira Knightley, Mortensen, Michael Fassbender, and Cassel; Cosmopolis (2012), with Robert Pattinson, Paul Giamatti, Samantha Morton, Sarah Gadon, Mathieu Amalric, Juliette Binoche, Jay Baruchel and Kevin Durand; Map of the Stars (2014), with Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, John Cusack, Pattinson, Olivia Williams, Sarah Gadon, and Evan Bird; Crimes of the Future (2022), with Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, and Kristen Stewart.

His films have polarized critics and audiences alike; he has earned critical acclaim and has sparked controversy for his depictions of gore and violence. The Village Voice called him “the most audacious and challenging narrative director in the English-speaking world.” His films have won numerous awards, including, for Crash, the Special Jury Prize at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, a unique award that is distinct from the Jury Prize as it is not given annually, but only at the request of the official jury, who in this case gave the award “for originality, for daring and for audacity.”

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • Transfer (1967) – short
  • From the Drain (1968) – short
  • Stereo (1969)
  • Crimes of the Future (1970)
  • Shivers (1975)
  • Rabid (1977)
  • Fast Company (1979)
  • The Brood (1979)
  • Scanners (1981)
  • Videodrome (1983)
  • The Dead Zone (1983)
  • Into the Night (1985) – directed by John Landis – cameo
  • The Fly (1986)
  • Dead Ringers (1988)
  • Nightbreed (1990) – directed by Clive Barker – actor
  • Naked Lunch (1991)
  • M. Butterfly (1993)
  • Trial by Jury (1994) – directed by Heywood Gould – actor
  • Henry & Verlin (1994) – directed by Gary Ledbetter – actor
  • To Die For (1995) – directed by Gus Van Sant – cameo
  • Blood and Donuts (1995) – directed by Holly Dale – actor
  • The Stupids (1996) – directed by John Landis – cameo
  • Extreme Measures (1996) – directed by Michael Apted – actor
  • Crash (1996)
  • Last Night (1998) – directed by Don McKellar – actor
  • The Grace of God (1998) – directed by Gerald L’Ecuyer – actor
  • Resurrection (1999) – directed by Russell Mulcahy – cameo
  • eXistenZ (1999)
  • Camera (2000) – short
  • Jason X (2001) – directed by Jim Isaac – cameo
  • Spider (2002)
  • A History of Violence (2005)
  • To Each His Own Cinema (2007) – directed with Raymond Depardon, Takashi Kitano, Andrei Konchalovsky, Nanni Moretti, Joel & Ethan Coen, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Zhang Yimou, Atom Egoyan, Aki Kaurismäki, Yousef Chahine, Tsai Ming-liang, Lars von Trier, Raoul Ruiz, Claude Lelouch, Gus Van Sant, Roman Polanski, Michael Cimino, Wong Kar-wai, Abbas Kiarostami, Billie August, Elia Suleiman, Manoel de Oliveira, Walter Salles, Wim Wenders, Chen Kaige, Ken Loach, & David Lynch – anthology
  • Eastern Promises (2007)
  • Barney’s Version (2010) – directed by Richard J. Lewis – cameo
  • A Dangerous Method (2011)
  • Cosmopolis (2012)
  • The Nest (2013)
  • Maps to the Stars (2014)
  • Disappearance at Clifton Hill (2019) – directed by Albert Shin – actor
  • Falling (2020) – directed by Viggo Mortensen
  • Crimes of the Future (2022)
  • The Shrouds (202-)