The Modern Fantastic: The Films of David Cronenberg

In The Fly, one of Seth Brundle’s experiments goes disastrously wrong, and the chimpanzee he was attempting to transport from one telepod to the other ends up in the second device, a quivering mass of flesh; the process of teleportation has turned it inside out and yet it remains in unimaginable agony alive. David Cronenberg is undoubtedly one of the great directors of transgression, violating boundaries between the subjective and the objective and, even more spectacularly, between the human and the non-human.

This collection of seven critical essays explores the multifaceted nature of Cronenberg’s achievement and ranges from Jonathan Crane’s reassessment of Cronenberg’s place within horror cinema, to Parveen Adams’ intensely focused discussion of Crash. Other essays examine the place of the homoerotic body in Cronenberg’s films; view M. Butterfly in relation to modern notions of literature; place the earlier work in its historical context; address the complexity and ambiguity derived from certain fundamental contrasts underpinning much of his work; and discuss some of the shortcomings of critical writings on Cronenberg. The book also includes a recent interview with the director together with a full filmography and bibliography. An important analysis for students and scholars of contemporary film and popular culture.