Dundead Review: eXistenZ (1999)

After an attempt on her life at the launch of her new game, Allegra Geller must play her own game, along with a marketing trainee, Ted Pikul to see if the game is damaged...

If I'm brutally honest, I'm not a huge fan of what is called 'body horror'. That said, I think the best writer/director involved in making them has been David Cronenberg. He's a director I do admire, making one of my favourite Stephen King adaptations, The Dead Zone, the remake of The Fly and the stunning, Dead Ringers. By all accounts, eXistenZ might be considered a lesser film in his 'body horror' films and that may be why, in part, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The film was made in 1999, but Cronenberg but it deals with some themes that still resonate today, the idea of people spending long periods gaming that it can take over their lives. OF course, the film isn't just about that, It's also an entertaining, fun little thriller too, but I wonder if Cronenberg, who at one point was going to direct Total Recall, that also deals with real life and fantasy, liked the premise and did his own thing with it.

The cast are great. Jennifer Jason Leigh plays Allegra and is very good, as is Jude Law as Ted. The supporting cast, including Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Willem Dafoe and Christopher Eccleston are good too. They give over the feeling they are having a lot of fun here.

And there is a lot of fun to be had, as Ted interacts with characters in the game, discovering, as I'm sure many gamers have found over the years, that interacting with characters in a game, can be frustrating if you don't ask the right question. What action there is in the film is well done too.

There is a late in the day development, that personally, I don't think the film really needed. But that said, it didn't spoil the film for me. The music from Howard Shore is pretty good as is the production design.

Cronenberg is a director who often makes very serious films, though they may have a moment or two of humour. If anything, what eXistenZ shows is that if he wanted to, he can make a good little thriller that is a lot of fun.

I'd not seen eXistenZ before the Dundead screening. I'm not sure why in truth. But I'm glad I finally caught up with it. If you haven't seen it, then check it out.

You may have a lot of fun too.

Rating: 4/5