Excellent, a Must See

Better Late Then Never

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Done in a very cold and clinical style, with no direct sound, droning narration that's overloaded with pretentious pseudo-scientific jargon, and great use of a fantastic sprawling location, David Cronenberg's 65-minute debut feature about an experiment on increasing telepathic psychic abilities amongst several volunteer test subjects with unexpected dangerous side effects makes for decidedly rough going, but still manages to impress due to its striking black and white cinematography and a wealth of fascinating ideas that could have benefited from a stronger presentation. The lack of sound proves to be a huge problem, as whole sequences that transpire in total silence are alas positively agonizing to sit through because they seem to go on for an excruciating eternity. Moreover, the glacial pacing certainly doesn't help matters at all while the lack of characterization ensures that the volunteers for the experiment come across more like distant objects than sympathetic human beings. Fortunately, the cast still manage to contribute remarkably expressive pantomime performances as Cronenberg explores his trademark themes of identity, sexuality, and science gone amok. So, it's definitely not top Cronenberg, but nonetheless serves as an intriguing precursor to such latter works as "Shivers" and especially "Scanners."

This strange gem fits suitably in the creche of Cronenberg bit it's not for everyone that loves Cronenberg....Just the ones that are insanely in need of everything he has ever created. Its not because it's a bad film, on the contrary it is very intriguing. Its just incredibly slow and the sparse environment lack of color and mostly silent audio makes for a surreal but not very compelling film. There is no soundtrack...At all. There is no real dialog just moments of narration, which of course paints the picture moreso than the acting and mise en scene. Set in the Future, we are treated to a pseudo-documentary based on the scientific workings of a parapsychologist named Luther Stringfellow a famed member of the fictitious Canadian Academy for Erotic Inquiry. His thesis; It is hoped that telepathic groups, bonded in polymorphous sexual relationships, will form a socially stabilizing replacement for the "obsolescent family unit". The subjects will be seven young volunteers who will submit to experimental brain surgery to endow them with telepathic abilities and quench their ability to speak and be recorded daily. The film serves as a record of said experiment. This is where the film kinda falls down. The film gives us some interesting characters to watch, but their silence doesn't allow us to really know sympathize with them. Its like watching an acting class exercise in "emoting" or "mugging". A pantomime this complex needs some form of interpretive audio. While it is interesting to watch the actors go about their "telepathic" play, the drama comes off as stilted due to the highly scientific nature of the narration. Some long sequences that involve little or no narration do not pass quickly and create a kind of dream logic between film and audience. Are we getting what he is showing us? I dunno, as some of the action is so interpretive that we could be on a completely different plane of reasoning than what Cronenberg could be trying to describe. Heady, perhaps, but I think that Cronenberg was not trying to be pretentious, I think he was doing what a lot of first time film students do. Get in over their heads with grand ideas. I can forgive as I have done that myself, which is why I gave it 7 stars. Its not bad its just not for everybody.

Stereo (1969) is a bizarre film about human behavior. Cronenberg shot this movie as if was a documentary. A lot of his trademark direction and style is beginning to take shape. He would perfect this technique in his latter films. But whilst watching this movie you can see that he was going to be an excellent filmmaker. It also showcases his style as an documentist.Not for everyone but it's always interesting to see a well known and accomplished director's earlier work. Stereo has all ofhis trademarks, it's cold, clinical and very dark. Only Cronenberg can take something like sex and make it seem like a scientific experiment.Recommended for Cronenberg fans, others need not apply.B+x

While this rare student film of Cronenberg's was certainly a pleasure to come across, it sure as shoot didn't offer much for pleasure or entertainment period once actually viewed. Designed as a "faked" B & W, voiceover-only documentary on the extra-sensory/psychic abilities of a group of young subjects in an enclosed secluded laboratory, with the big problem being that "faked" documentaries on any subject generally manage to make themselves entertaining by being either funny (as was the case with "Spinal Tap," "Waiting For Guffman," "Fear Of A Black Hat," etc.), or disturbing/disgusting/scary/whatever (i.e. "Blair Witch," "The Last Broadcast," "Snuff," etc.) Unfortunately this film didn't seem to try to take any sort of emotional approach to the material--it didn't even have any of the nauseating gore & makeup effects characteristic of his later films like "The Brood" and "The Fly"--and thus simply managed to be tedious and unrewarding.While it is enjoyable to see some of Cronenberg's early stock actors at work here (some of whom would later have smaller roles in his later films), and the subject matter for the film is an obvious precursor to his later "Scanners," ultimately the darn thing will probably do little more than offer the completists out there some rather unenthusiastic bragging rights. Whatta snooze!