Videodrome (1983)

Director: David Cronenberg
Stars: James Wood


Review:

Videodrome is one of my favourite movie of all time, and the best ever from David Cronenberg, among other classics such as The Fly (1986), Scanners (1981) and The Brood (1979). It is a multi-layered movie that can be enjoyed on your preference.

The president of Channel 83, Max Renn, had captured pirate signal of a underground show called Videodrome, which contains nothing but people getting tortured and murdered. Amused by the show and seeing the business opportunity to broadcast it, he tried to track the programme down, and gradually came to realize that the show creates a brain trumour to the viewers and made to lost in what is reality and hallucinations.

On the outfront it is a mid-night thriller, the one that would be shown as late night programme on TV, when the kids were sound asleep. It had it all: sex, violence, 80's special effects to gross you out, you name it. And it is on repeated viewing did I know it is so fast paced that once you predict how the plot goes, it already was happening. It satisfy anyone who like 80's horror movies.

SM-ing with a television

On the next level you relate to the protagonist, Max, played by James Wood. We realize we are sort of the same person as him: we enjoy watching violence and torture on video, and we always demand more hardcore stuff. There is a lot of movie now that is just like videodrome, with little or no plot and just people getting tortured, mutilated and murdered. It makes us feel we are as vulnerable as Max, and wonder whether we will have a brain tumour ourselves.

Videodrome. You have watched it now. Be prepared for a brain tumour.

On top of that, we gets political and realize the scary fact the television had become the retina of the mind's eye. When there was no internet, people sit around at night just watching television. Whatever the television shows, people bought it and believe it. It could be advertisement tells us to buy products, or some government propagada instructs us not to question anything, or videodrome. Nowadays with the internet the effect of television diminished but the phenomenon just transformed to a new morph, and we were never as close as to living in the "strange new world" the movie described, in which we are nothing but some data that causes the liquid crystal to shine in a certain way.

James wood is an actor that, though not with a handsome face, with a lot of personality. When he plays a character you believe in real life he is the same in realife, sort of like Bill Murray. He is sly, with a smart mouth, and didnt lose his sense of humour even when he is in deep shit. Shame that the only performance I have seen him do besides Videodrome are Scary Movie 2 and GTA:SA as Mike Torreno. I will sure track down some more of his work.