There are distinct signs of strain in the plot convolutions, not least in the spectator's loss of faith over indiscriminate and cheating use of hallucination; what certainly survives is Cronenberg's wholesale disgust with the world in general.
Videodrome (1983)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:45
Fresh:36
Rotten:9
Average Rating:7.2/10
Consensus: Visually audacious, disorienting, and just plain weird, Videodrome's musings on technology, entertainment, and politics still feel fresh today.
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Genre: Television
US Box Office: $0
Synopsis: Max Renn runs an unauthorized cable channel in Toronto that caters to viewers demanding increasingly violent and pornographic material. One night, in search of new programming fodder, he stumbles... Max Renn runs an unauthorized cable channel in Toronto that caters to viewers demanding increasingly violent and pornographic material. One night, in search of new programming fodder, he stumbles across a scrambled satellite transmission emanating from unknown regions -- a startlingly graphic broadcast that routinely depicts the brutal torture and murder of women. Excited by his find, Renn attempts to track the show to its origins, but he continually encounters resistance, including a warning from one of his programming suppliers that the broadcasts are not dramatizations but depictions of actual murders. Undaunted, Renn finally traces the show to Pittsburgh, where he encounters the transmissions of a Messianic madman known as Brian O'Blivion. Although O'Blivion is dead, his daughter continues to spread his twisted gospel by broadcasting old videotapes of his sermons, encouraging people to embrace the barbarous new TV world as reality. Eventually Renn finds the man who is controlling all the hallucinatory video violence. But by then, Max has begun his own descent into madness, an insanity culminating in physical manifestations of the exploitative sleaze he has profited from over the years. [More]
Starring: James Woods, Deborah Harry, Peter Dvorsky, Les Carlson
Starring: James Woods, Deborah Harry, Peter Dvorsky, Les Carlson
Director: David Cronenberg
Director: David Cronenberg
Screenwriter: David Cronenberg
Producer: Claude Heroux
Reviews for Videodrome
Cronenberg, whose Max Renn might be seen as some sort of alter ego, however absolves technology from its share of responsibility for media-induced alienation.
it feels like Cronenberg started with a great idea, and just wasn't sure what to do with it
David Cronenberg's most visionary and audacious film up to the time of its making, Videodrome is a fascinating rumination on humanity, technology, entertainment, sex, and politics that is virtually incomprehensible on first viewing.
Cronenberg continues his growth out of more obvious horror realms and ups the stakes with heavier philosophical entreaties for his characters to endure.
A showcase for some of the most unforgettable special makeup effects work ever to see a movie screen.
Never coherent and frequently pretentious, the film remains an audacious attempt to place obsessive personal images before a popular audience -- a kind of Kenneth Anger version of Star Wars.
Veers from being risible to sinister as it explores how viewers are brainwashed by TV.
If weirdness is what you want, then you can't do any wrong seeing a David Cronenberg film.
Latest News for Videodrome
April 27, 2009:
Uni Preps New Videodrome ![]()
Universal has announced plans to remake David Cronenberg's "Videodrome," with Ehren Kruger set to write and produce. More...
March 01, 2007:
"Saw" Maker to Tackle "Scanners" Remake
Darren Lynn Bousman, director of "Saw 2," "Saw 3," and the upcoming "Saw 4," will soon be helming a remake of David Cronenberg's... More...
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