Prior to undertaking his English degree at the University of Toronto, David Cronenberg flirted with a Science major and this is evident in the strong pseudoscience themes examined in his early experimental films Stereo and Crimes Of The Future. Indeed they are themes which would dominate his entire career.

Following on from the short films Transfer (1966) and From The Drain (1967) (either of which I've yet to track down), Stereo (1969) depicts a group of people who have voluntarily submitted to brain surgery in order to enhance their telepathic abilities. Telepathy, it seems, is only possible between two individuals who have forged a relationship with each other and if it's a sexual relationship all the better. It's rather fitting then that this research takes place at the Canadian Academy for Erotic Inquiry. Naturally the experiment goes horribly wrong and the surgery leads to violent psychoses whereby one subject attempts to relieve his perceived cranial pressure by drilling a hole in his forehead.

Unfortunately the film is nowhere near as interesting as it sounds and at the chronically overlong running time of 65mins, frankly, it's boring as batshit. Shot on monochrome stock without sound, the story is delivered through a monotonous documentary style voiceover (by the unseen scientists running the experiment) which has been added in postproduction. Indeed, the voiceover is the only sound in it! Worse than that, the video footage frequently drops into slo-mo in order (presumably) to shoehorn the designated narration into its required slot. Unfortunately the aforementioned head-drilling episode is only told in retrospect by the voiceover but there are a couple of frigid sex scenes thrown in which, if nothing else, at least provide some movement.

It's not all a lost cause, however. What we have here is the genesis of the aggressive telepathy which would become the premise for the commercially successful Scanners (indeed the head-drilling episode will be used verbatim) and in this regard it's an essential (albeit academic) view for Cronenberg fans, but only for Cronenberg fans. Of course, we must make some concessions for the fact that this is an experimental film and, after all, every genius had to start somewhere!

5 out of 10.


Crimes Of The Future (1970) had a larger budget (it was shot in colour!) and far greater ambitions. It would be the film that would net Cronenberg the production deal that would enable him to shoot Shivers (1975) (AKA Orgy Of The Blood Parasites, The Parasite Murders and They Came From Within). The film follows the journey of Adrian Tripod (Ron Mlodzik), the director of the House Of Skin, a sanatorium funded by radical dermatologist, Antoine Rouge, to treat those suffering from a cosmetic-induced terminal illness. This disease has seen the annihilation of all sexually mature women thereby leading to a male dominated society consisting chiefly of homosexuals and heterosexual paedophiles. Following the death of his last patient, Tripod moves through a succession of biological corporations culminating in a company which is conducting secret experiments with a view to achieving the sexual maturation of a 5 year old girl thereby solving the world's population crisis.

Crimes represents a great leap forward by Cronenberg, for while it is shot in a similar style to Stereo (this too is shot with no sound and has a doco-style narration and crude sound FX applied in post production), it boasts a veritable goldmine of ideas which Cronenberg would draw on for the next 15 odd years. Touching on virulent body secretions, cosmetic-induced mutation, fetishism, homoerotica, venereal disease and secret assassin cabals, Cronenberg would repeatedly draw on these ideas particularly for Shivers (1975), Rabid (1977), The Brood (1979), Scanners (1981) and Videodrome (1983). If anything, Crimes could be accused of possessing far too many ideas for it's short 70min running length. About the only idea Cronenberg has yet to reuse is that of paedophilia - it's probably too obvious for him! Make no mistake, Crimes Of The Future is still an experimental film (so it's certainly not suitable for the commercial palate) and the pseudoscience does come off a bit silly and pretentious at times, but it's abundance of ideas makes it compelling viewing nonetheless and ought to be compulsory study material for Cronenbergians.

8 out of 10.