Videodrome (1983)

On Demand, Seattle, WA

June 26, 2008

**** / ****

by Scott Muoio

The line between man and machine gets a full-on dose of the bizarre in David Cronenberg’s masterpiece, Videodrome, the perfect midnight movie. The film’s essential late night trappings include timeless yet decidedly ‘80s technological authoritarianism, media manipulation, a wacko surreal ending, and an obsessive/compulsive lust for sex and violence that runs through every character and those pulling the strings behind the scenes. It also contains thrillingly horrific flesh mutating special effects in the vein of An American Werewolf in London (Rick Bakker does the effects for both), and a wacky story that involves a sleezy local cable television station programming manager (James Woods) on the hunt for some Grade-A sex and violence schlock. Throw in a bizarre talking head named Brian O’Blivion (Jack Creley), who is literally a guy that only communicates with the public via television projections and taunts Woods character with mind control hocus-pocus threats and promises, and Debbie Harry of Blondie fame as Wood’s sado-masochist lady friend and you’ve got yourself a tidy little package of bizarre entertainment that will linger in your mind years after your viewing.

Besides the pure enjoyment of watching Videodrome is the fact that the film is the prototype for the hundreds of man meets machine, is it real or isn’t it wannabes that followed. The film’s influence can be seen in everything from The Matrix to Pi and just about any other out there project where technology runs amok while philosophical underpinnings confuse the hell out of you. No doubt, Videodrome is the godfather of all mental clusterfucks and if you haven’t yet seen it for yourself you most definitely should. Videodrome is without a doubt essential viewing for ‘80s aficionados and cult movie obsessives everywere.

“Long live the new flesh.”