Videodrome

Watch: Videodrome

Unrated

6/19/20141h 28m

Theatrical (limited) Release (US)

~ First it controls your mind. Then it destroys your body. ~

Overview:

As the president of a trashy TV channel, Max Renn is desperate for new programming to attract viewers. When he happens upon "Videodrome," a TV show dedicated to gratuitous torture and punishment, Max sees a potential hit and broadcasts the show on his channel. However, after his girlfriend auditions for the show and never returns, Max investigates the truth behind Videodrome and discovers that the graphic violence may not be as fake as he thought.

Director:

David Cronenberg

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$5,952,000.00

Revenue:

$2,120,439.00

Key words:

suicide
virtual reality
radio presenter
black market
insanity
paranoia
dystopia
toronto, canada
hallucination
surrealism
sadomasochism
cyberpunk
brainwashing
pittsburgh, pennsylvania
snuff film
pirate broadcast
cautionary
depressed
ridiculous

Cast

James Woods

~ as ~

Max Renn

Debbie Harry

~ as ~

Nicki Brand

Sonja Smits

~ as ~

Bianca O'Blivion

Peter Dvorsky

~ as ~

Harlan

Leslie Carlson

~ as ~

Barry Convex

Jack Creley

~ as ~

Brian O'Blivion

Lynne Gorman

~ as ~

Masha

Julie Khaner

~ as ~

Bridey

Reiner Schwarz

~ as ~

Moses

David Bolt

~ as ~

Raphael

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 2 year(s) ago
6
"Max" (James Woods) runs a television channel that specialises in adult content. Always on the look out for new and more innovative and shocking content, he stumbles upon a brief series of satellite images that tantalise him. It's on a television talk show that he meets "Nicki" (Debbie Harry) who has a penchant for sex with a twist - and that not only turns them both on, but furthers his desire to obtain his newly found (and pretty violent) content for his Channel 83 output. The other guest on that show is the renowned "Prof. Oblivion" (Jack Creley) who prognosticates that one day the reality of television and video will replace the "real" reality. These threads slowly all tie together when "Nicki" decides that she is going to star in this new "Videodrome" enterprise and "Renn" must now reconcile his concern for her safety with his mounting need to acquire the show. This film is surreal and bizarre and yet it's still quite effective at illustrating the most visceral aspects of human nature - sex, venality, lust - even pain; and the visual effects (particularly towards the last fifteen minutes) must have been particularly effective. It's a bit on the sordid side - not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but at times the seaminess of it all is distracting from the more interesting and provocative aspects of the narrative. Time hasn't been very kind to it either, the effects have lost much of their potency now and the acting is mediocre at best. It is well worth a watch, but I'm not sure that will be the case for very much longer.