David Cronenberg

David Cronenberg movies available on 4K Blu-ray, ranked by transfer quality.

Three boutique labels have carved up the Cronenberg 4K catalog. Second Sight has The Brood, Scanners, and Crimes of the Future. Arrow has Naked Lunch, Videodrome, and Crash. Vinegar Syndrome has eXistenZ. All S-Tier except Crash, and every label brought their best transfer work.

A History of Violence(2005)

7.2

dir. David Cronenberg

S-Tier

Cronenberg and Mortensen at their best. This was the last movie ever released on VHS, which is the kind of trivia that makes a collector want to own every format it ever came on. Makes a great double feature with Eastern Promises.

Crimes of the Future(2022)

6.0

dir. David Cronenberg

S-Tier

S-Tier Second Sight Films 4K. Cronenberg's late-career body horror. Second Sight's limited edition is the way to go.

Second Sight Films · 4K + Blu-ray

eXistenZ(1999)

6.8

dir. David Cronenberg

S-Tier

Vinegar Syndrome S-Tier 4K. Cronenberg's virtual reality body horror got the Vinegar Syndrome treatment and it's one of the label's best transfers. The slab packaging is the usual VS quality.

Vinegar Syndrome · 4K + Blu-ray

Naked Lunch(1991)

7.0

dir. David Cronenberg

S-Tier

S-Tier Arrow Video 4K. Cronenberg's Burroughs adaptation with a perfect 5.0 specs score. Arrow's 4K releases have a reputation for better encoding than Criterion's equivalents. The Turbine release also exists for European collectors. Worth knowing this is deeply weird Cronenberg before pressing play.

Arrow Video · 4K + Blu-ray

Scanners(1981)

6.7

dir. David Cronenberg

S-Tier

Second Sight's 4K trilogy box has some of the best cover art in the boutique space. Only the first film is actually in 4K, which caught some buyers off guard. The original Scanners remains a Cronenberg essential and Second Sight's limited edition treatment gives it the packaging it deserves. Videodrome in 4K from Criterion is the companion disc most collectors pair it with.

Second Sight Films · 4K + Blu-ray

The Brood(1979)

6.7

dir. David Cronenberg

S-Tier

Second Sight Limited Edition 4K. Part of Cronenberg's body horror trilogy alongside Scanners and Videodrome, and the one that established his obsession with flesh as a medium for psychological damage. The Second Sight packaging matches Scanners and Crimes of the Future for shelf consistency.

Second Sight Films · 4K + Blu-ray

The Dead Zone(1983)

7.0

dir. David Cronenberg

S-Tier

Scream Factory 4K from December 2024. Christopher Walken in Cronenberg's Stephen King adaptation, which collectors rank as one of the best King-to-film transfers on 4K. The Scream Factory release was a day-one buy for a lot of people when it was announced alongside Clue and Point Break.

Scream Factory · 4K + Blu-ray

Videodrome(1983)

7.3

dir. David Cronenberg

S-Tier

Arrow Video 4K Limited Edition with Arte Originale artwork that some buyers received damaged and Arrow refused to replace, offering a 15% discount instead. Criterion also has a version. The film is S-Tier on both releases and the transfer captures the CRT glow and analog video texture that the whole plot revolves around.

Arrow Video · 4K + Blu-ray

Crash(1996)

6.5

dir. David Cronenberg

A-Tier

Arrow Video 4K with Turbine Media releasing a separate European edition. The packaging got praise for quality supplements and the transfer earned an A-Tier rating. One of those Cronenberg films where people call it their most shameless self-indulgent purchase, which is exactly the right energy for a film about car crash fetishism.

Arrow Video · 4K + Blu-ray