David Cronenberg’s rarely seen 1972 short film about a scientist developing a psychological weapon

Early in his filmmaking career , director David Cronenberg collaborated with writer Norman Snider on a short film for the Canadian anthology series Program X. After that film , titled Secret Weapons , publicise , it was rarely shown later on , becoming something of a lost film . But thanks to the miracle of the net , the moving picture is lost no more , and gives us insight into Cronenberg ’s early filmmaking .

Set in the ( then ) future year 1977 , Secret Weapons is set during a civil war and abide by a scientist who has designed a process that makes soldiers want to obliterate . But he also happen non - scientific effect that fascinate him : orphic agents who proclaim the being of magic and a bike crew that may be the last hope for gyration . It ’s for certain a rough , other picture show , mark by a semi - narrative sensibility and odd acting chemistry , but it explores many of Cronenberg ’s fascinations , including biker crew , engineering ’s power to manipulate the human mind , and reference ghost with violence . More than a decade later , Cronenberg and Snider would collaborate again on their paranoid psychological drama Dead Ringers .

Secret Weapons ( 1972 , David Cronenberg)[Cinephilia & Beyond viaSimon Sellars ]