• I’m not sure it’s technically his debut- he made two earlier works but they are borderline home movies/shorts so this is generally considered to be his debut
  • The Romero influence is heavy- but again this is body mutation horror and really he wouldn’t change that much for the next 40 years- he’d just become a better director, crisper, stronger visuals
  • Uses shock gore and nudity to sell films but there’s much more going on here- it’s a flamethrower at the “Me” generation of the 1970’s (precursor to yuppies)- he makes a note of aiming his target at people who golf, make money, drive Lamborghini’s (maps to the stars with the celebrity elite here again in the 2010’s)
  • Choppy editing
  • Bad acting for the most part
  • Crude in not only the content of the film but some of the technical craftsmanship
  • The Zombie/horror is spread through STD- AIDS essentially (before AIDS)- which also means this is a precursor to the fly in many ways
  • Barbara Steele here is a nod to Mario Bava
  • Came out the same year as Ballard’s high rise novel- I don’t know which came out first honestly- I can’t imagine the book came out, Cronenberg read it, and then made this movie. Who knows though
  • You will find yourself going back to early Cronenberg despite the lack of technical craft- there’s a draw here
  • Not in or near the top 10 of 1975 but I have it in the archives
  • Recommend