David Cronenberg announces next horror film, 'The Work Fridge'

Oscar Ogilvie here, reporting live from the Sundance Film Festival. At this year's festival, the fervent fans of the chilling work of director David Cronenberg have learned of a new scare soon be in their sights on the cinema screens, as the gore-meister signed a deal today to direct his next picture: an office-centred horror titled The Work Fridge.

"I'm excited to take a step beyond the gentler, tamer nightmares I've explored in my lighter fare like The Fly, Naked Lunch, and Scanners," said Cronenberg, "and to finally move into truly terrifying territory."

The Canadian horror king has shown throughout his oeuvre that he understands what really frightens us: not just disgusting biological growths, but the banal yet blatant disregard shown to each of us by our fellow man.

The maestro went on to say that not only does he want to depict these scary images — he wants to understand what they mean to us.

"I believe that the metaphor of the work fridge, which will be the centre of this film starring Deborah Kara Unger and James Spader as co-workers who refuse to clean the fridge and are at first disgusted but then excited by its level of filth — works on an organic level," said Cronenberg.

"It means that things are changing, that things cannot stay as they were, that we are forced to reckon with the new beings that we, our loved ones, and objects, that are constantly evolving into.

Change is the only constant in this world, and I try to acknowledge this in my work."

"Having said that, I last worked an office job about 50 years ago," said Cronenberg with a wry chuckle, "and I guess if work fridges are still as disgusting as I remember them being, that shows that things don't really change that much at all."

"All I know is that the antagonists in this film — which include Jell-O, mystery meat, and "milk" — will both fascinate and repel the audience, who may well decide that these misunderstood and neglected foods are the true heroes."

Asked by this old reporter about leaving his frequent milieu of body-horror, Cronenberg said that the refrigerator is "the ultimate body: mushy, complicated middle, frozen top, and confusing bottom."

Couldn't have said it better myself. Oscar Ogilvie, signing off from Sundance.

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