Intro


Set in the 1980’s, Videodrome is a slow burn science fiction horror film that blurs the line between humanity, mass media, and technology. It’s about watching one’s life disintegrate into a nightmare of video flesh that may or may not be real.

Summary


Let’s address the ‘drome’ part of the title. Merriam Webster tells us that it means ‘arena’ or ‘course’(1). Translation: Video Arena. I know you’re thinking, “Why the f**k do I need to know that?” Trust me when I say that if you’re interested in watching & understanding this movie, you need every bit of help you can get. We’ll get to this later in spoiler breakdown.

Videodrome is often described as being of the ‘body horror’ genre (2). Body horror is about confronting the unsettling nuances & vulnerabilities of being an organic being. Cronenberg breathed new life into this genre with his first film ‘Shivers’ from 1975 (3). In Videodrome Director/writer David Cronenberg again explores body horror. This time brought on by invasive technology.

“One of the ways in which the adventure can begin. A blunder - apparently the merest chance - reveals an unsuspected world, and the individual is drawn into a relationship with forces that are not rightly understood.” (4)



-Joseph Campbell

Max Renn is president of Civic TV - a station that specializes in violent programming and softcore pornography. When Max’s studio technician shows him a pirated broadcast of what appears to be a snuff series called Videodrome, Max’s interest is piqued. Not only does Max contemplate the ratings boost such a show could mean to his station but his path ahead is paved with a dark curiosity.

Cronenberg stated one of the inspirations of the movie was playing devil’s advocate for fears surrounding television and violent media at the time; fears that violent programming changed people (5). Cronenberg took this one step further and had the programming in Videodrome physically change people. At least that’s what the film appears to be implying is happening.

Analysis

The description of the movie on the studio page reads, “Videodrome is one of writer/director David Cronenberg’s most original and provocative works, fusing social commentary with shocking elements of sex and violence. It’s regarded as one of the most influential and mind-bending science fiction films of the 1980s.”(6)

Did this movie accomplish these goals? Firstly I haven’t seen any of Cronenberg’s other films so I can’t say how it compares to the rest of his work. However, on all the other points? That’s a resounding yes.

In the movie Dr. Oblivion states, “Soon all of us will have special names.”. This is prophetic considering that most people create a unique, special name to use online today. He also states, “Whatever appears on the television screen emerges as raw experience for those that watch it. Therefore television is reality. And reality is less than television.”

Television can be viewed as a proxy for whatever technology influences us in substantive ways for better or worse. If you’re watching this you’ve let technology at least inform your view of reality somewhat through video. How much is our perception of reality informed through means such as this? What if the media in question changed you and if so by how much? These are but a few of the questions this movie asks.

Not only does Videodrome stand out among its peers in the 80’s as an intriguing mind fuck, it’s still relevant today. I didn’t discover Videodrome until the late 2010’s and I saw PLENTY of 80’s movies before that point. It definitely is one of the most if not the most mind bending films I’ve seen from that era. However, as we are going to see in a moment, Videodrome has not reached as far and wide as some of its contemporaries.

Despite the film featuring some very ‘out there’ scenarios the script and the acting are entirely believable. Deborah Harry’s acting as Nikki Brand does come across as a bit stiff at times but this may be intentional as her acting in some deleted scenes shows a much more dynamic and competent range.

James Wood’s performance as Max Renn is believable especially in the face of such strange circumstances his character faces. With the exception of one decision (that I’ll cover in the spoiler breakdown) I didn’t once question Renn’s journey throughout the entire film. The movie does a convincing jot at establishing the very specific character that would interact with Videodrome in the way Max does.

Each and every actor’s performance goes a long way of elevating Videodrome to the heights most movies aim to achieve: that the movie is a window into another reality, another timeline, another universe. The screen is just a viewing glass to these strange and faraway places. Videodrome is such a window; a retina into the mind’s eye of the people that live in this world.

Significance

Andy Warhol has called ‘Videodrome’ the ‘Clockwork Orange’ of the 80′s (7), IMDB has Videodrome rated at 7.2 out of 10 (8), Rotten Tomatoes 80 out of 100 (9), and Metacritic at 50 out of 100 (10).

Since the movie’s release it has grossed $2,120,439 with $1,194,175 of that amount being the opening weekend. That means in the four decades since Videodrome’s release, it’s taken that long to make what it made on its opening weekend. (11)

Videorome has also made it on a few ‘greatest horror movies of all time’ lists. On Parade.com it made 39 out of 151 (12) and on IGN it ranked 41 out of 100 (13).

It still flies under the radar of a lot of people and for that reason I would rate Videodrome somewhere between a cult classic and an undiscovered gem made of nightmares, sex, and cathode ray tubes.

Recommendation

Videodrome is a dark, dense, weird, and unsettling movie. For this reason I don’t think the average viewer would enjoy this. It takes a lot of effort to penetrate its narrative that all but demand repeated viewings to peel back. This is not a film for the pumpkin spice, glass is half full, blue pill people you know. The moment you suggest to them that they watch this film is the last time they ever ask you for a film suggestion.

Full Review: https://youtu.be/66YvrxH2q4w

Sources

1. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/drome
2. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/11/arts/television/david-cronenberg-slasher-acting.html
3. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1021211-shivers
4. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MWW2VDL/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_0PZB1MKQMCMPFVG0C61W
5. https://youtu.be/nSSc9n8zzKQ
6. https://www.criterion.com/films/240-videodrome
7. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086541/trivia
8. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086541/
9. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/videodrome
10. https://www.metacritic.com/movie/videodrome
11. https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Videodrome#tab=summary
12. https://parade.com/1038367/samuelmurrian/best-horror-movies-of-all-time/
13. https://www.ign.com/lists/best-science-fiction-movies/59