The book for which it is based by William S. Burroughs is now on my next to read after I finish "Cronenberg on Cronenberg". Now I don't know much about Mr. Burroughs and his writing. Cronenberg talks a lot about him in the book, and states that he is a major influence. From this small bit of exposure of the mountain of ideas and concepts in this man's head I look forward to delving into more of it.
As for the film. Now I've watched some bizarre films in my day but this definitely ranks among the top of them. It's not just the abstract and often freakish visuals but the overall concepts and themes surging below and through the images which create the ultimate sense of bizarreness. I'll admit that I do not fully grasp everything, or even most of what was "really" going on in this film.
What made Cronenberg's film adaptation really memorable is the reality for which all these odd things occur. The film is shot and directed in a way that has a sense of reality where all of this actually did occur. You really believe, "alright, so typewriters can turn into bugs and talk out of their butt holes, i can buy that". The use of practical effects is incredibly well done with the centipede processing plant, to the Mugwumps, to the Typewriters of different kinds. The main performance by Peter "Robocop" Weller is oddly hilarious as he is so nonchalant about most of the weird stuff going on in his "hallucinations". With his performance it helps the audience just accept these things within the story and continue moving on which definitely helps the overall effect. After reading the book I'll go back and see this again.
Recommended for everyone. Especially for Mugwumps and Centipede People.
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