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Videodrome (The Criterion Collection)

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TV will rot your brain, some say- and in the world of Videodrome, that's exactly what happens. A group working with a media philosopher (a nice parody of Marshall McCluhan) has created a signal that can be superimposed on a video program that will, quite literally, mutate the brain. It may be a tumor- or it may be a new organ. It's infected cable TV president Max Venn (James Woods), and is starting to change him and his world in bizarre ways.

Videodrome is a wonderfully original movie that mixes a well crafted script with some novel (for the time) special effects and a marvelous darkly comic sensibility. Puns abound; the president of "Spectacular Optics"- itself a pun- is named Convex. Brian Oblivion (the Marshall McCluhan parody) founded the "Cathode Ray Mission" (as in "cathode ray emission"), where the homeless and destitute are re-integrated into society by providing them with exposure to television.

Underneath this is a dark, sexual theme- Max's attraction to the images of bondage and sadism that are his undoing, and to radio psychologist Nikki (Debbie Harry, in a compelling if inartful performance) who is willing to go a lot farther than is Max in her pursuit of kinky thrills.

Is Max really being physically transformed, or is it all in his head? Is the New Flesh real, or another delusion? All in all, a compelling and original film that will delight any fan of cult films and erotic horror.

Videodrome is not only one of the top three horror/sci-fi movies made in the last 25 years it also has the distinguishing trait of having been given one of the best royal treatments from Criterion. If you need basic plot and such look elsewhere. This review is more about why this is one of the greatest films of all time.
First, the film: A must-have for any film collector, not just a horror or sci-fi buff. James Woods plays a Cable-TV station owner who broadcasts soft-porn and adult entertainment. His favorite technician shows him a pirated TV show called Videodrome in which people are tortured and killed. Woods pursues this show, watching more and more of it until his investigations lead him to two sources: The Videodrome show producers itself and the show's arch-enemy, The Cathode Ray Mission. Woods discovers that the show transmits a signal that creates a tumor in the brain that leads to S+M hallucinations. Woods begins to hallucinate incredible sexual/violent nightmares ( the fleshy TV set)and finds himself as a pawn between the two entities. Videodrome plans on using Woods' station to transmit the violent Videodrome show in order to kill the audience of porn. Videodrome owner Barry Convex "programs" Woods to kill his partners at the station and the Cathode Ray Mission Leader, Bianca O'Blivion. Bianca "counter programs" Woods into killing the Videodrome people. Bianca declares that Woods has "evolved" (Darwinism on its ear) into The New Flesh, an allegory of an information-age human with a body that mutates via hallucination. In the end, Woods, alone and his head filled with tumors, is prompted by his now dead girlfriend (Deborah Harry in the flesh TV set) to "evolve" into the next stage by shooting himself. Woods kills himself exactly as the fleshy TV set instructs him to do, declaring: "Long live the New Flesh."

Cronenberg gathered many parts of a script and ideas together to create a near avant-garde film that uses TV and fanatical programmers as villains. This movie sets the thriller basis for which The Matrix and The Ring would so heavily borrow from. Cronenberg's approach is different from his previous film SCANNERS in that the protaganist's perspective (a tremendous James Woods) becomes the actual subject of the movie. Since Videodrome has probably been seen my almost everone who reads this I need not bother to summarize the plot any further. Suffice to say that what starts out as an already interesting and challenging portrait of a soft-porn Cable-TV station owner looking for the next big thing in the adult entertainment world evolves into a nightmare that relentlessly never eases until the very last frame. This psychotic world and body (called The New Flesh)that Woods now finds himself becomes an allegory for our dependance and adhearance to Media and TV in particular. The concepts of "downloading" and "programming people" was, back in 1981, revolutionary. Kafka meets Tom Edison. The villains are evangelical and are either using the cancer-tumor inducing "videodrome" signal to kill sinners (Barry Convex looks like Jimmy Baker) or, in a twist of Darwin, the Cathode Ray Mission using the signal to "evolve" people to the next state of our existance: a personified information society of hallucinating, mutated people. This film was ahead of its time by decades and is still a significant movie using TV/Media as the vehicle for great evil, as prompted by an already receptive audience. Cronenberg suggests that we have created a TV Pornographic Frankenstien that is out of control.

The DVD: Two discs, both essential. The commentary from Cronengerg and James Woods is particulary interesting. Deborah Harry comments as well. The extras on Disc two feature excellent interviews with the special effects team, and a TV interview show from Canadian TV with John Carpenter, John Landis, and Cronenberg. The making of film is good and the actual torture and porn videos shot especially for the film are just bizzare to see, and they are provied with commentary. The DVD case is made to look like a betamax cassette that reads: Long Live the New Flesh. I love this movie, I always have. Yes, it has dated a little bit, but its one of those few movies that gets better with age. In fact, the dating of the effects adds significance to the visionary horror concept itself, light years ahead of its time. This is Cronenberg's masterpiece and everyone associated with it can consider themselves lucky. Make yourself among these lucky and get this DVD set.

The TV producer Max Renn (James Woods) works for a sleazy TV network that focuses on violence, sex, and other bizarre programs. Max's job is to search and find programs that keep pushing the aggressive nature of the network and can keep the viewer numbers up. Years of exposure to violence and sex have diminished the effect that the brutality and sexuality have on Max. As a result Max continues to search for something rough and more sadistic, and through an employee of the network he finds a pirate cable show, Videodrome.

The nature of the Videodrome is as Max refers to it as, "It's just murder and torture. No plot. No characters." It is the cutting edge, no pun intended, of cable TV for Max as it is rougher and more brutal than anything else that he has seen. Max tapes the show and becomes fixated with the pirated shows. This also begins to affect Max's social life as he meets Nicki (Deborah Harry) with whom he initiates a sadistic romance. Max begins to track the source down for Videodrome, which initially seems to be sent from Malaysia. However, further investigation leads Max to Pittsburgh, and he realizes that it is connected with a nightmarish cult.

David Cronenberg creates a terrifying atmosphere where reality and delusions begin to blend. This shadow land draws the audience into a paranoid cinematic experience where the threat is located directly in front of them, the television. The exceptional special effects are a big part of creating the bizarre atmosphere, which are startling with the breathing video tapes, open stomachs, and a sensually moving television. Videodrome carries Cronenberg's distinctive insignia as it is unique, disturbing, and groundbreaking. As usual with Cronenberg, his films always create room for cerebral participation and reflection as there are always several messages, which can be seen in other films by Cronenberg such as Spider and Naked Lunch. When Videodrome's end credits roll over the screen the audience will have experienced a truly unique film, which will cause much room for debate and pondering.

They say you either love or hate this rather bizarre offering from 1983, but I found myself somewhat indifferent as Videodrome approached its conclusion. To my mind, the final third of the story is ultimately too haphazard, esoteric, and too consciously horror-driven to clearly express the themes worked into the heart of the film. It's easy to read a lot into this film, but that's as much of a credit to the viewer as it is to the filmmakers.

Still, Videodrome is certainly a fascinating, unique film that compels the viewer to contrast the interplay between video and real life in our increasingly technological age. By 1983, most people were already seeing life through a television screen - TV defined the news, fashion, the latest fads, etc. In the movie, TV plays as integral a part as food and comfort in the rehabilitation of the homeless taken in at the Cathode Ray Mission run by Dr. O'Blivion (Jack Creley). Rather than paint the television as a soul-draining maker of brain-dead zombies, Videodrome forges its way down an even more frightening path, where television is used as a potential weapon on the masses.

James Woods plays Max Renn, a rather sleazy cable operator who depends on shocking television shows to keep his little station up and running. He discovers many of his shows through satellite piracy, and that is just how Videodrome first comes to his attention. He is fascinated with the show, which features nothing but torture and abuse of individuals, especially women, with no sign of a plot anywhere behind it. It's just the kind of shocking new thing he's after, and so he begins searching for its source. His prurient interest in such violent material is enhanced by his current girlfriend, Nicki Brand (Deborah Harry), who is so into S&M that she vows to audition for Videodrome herself. Before long, Max begins hallucinating, and his efforts to discover the source of Videodrome become, at the same time, a desperate attempt to maintain his sanity if not physical life. The show isn't rotting his brain, but it is physically changing it, and therein lies the unheralded danger of this example of reality TV taken to the extreme.

All of this works beautifully for the first hour, but I just feel the psychology of the story is ultimately sacrificed in the name of horror, as the special effects force something of a disconnect between the viewer and the film. At least in my case, this robbed this otherwise perversely fascinating film of much of its power.

David Cronenberg was giving us a taste of things to come when he made this instant classic in the early '80's. Without the technology of today he still produced great effects; but the film gets its strength from the inner conflict of humans being not only contolled by technology, but actually becoming one with it. James Woods gives a good performance as the main character who takes the next step and is transformed into "the new flesh". Some of the same elements will be evident in the hallucinations of Naked Lunch and other films by Cronenberg as he sees the horrors of the world originate in the human mind. Highly recommended.

A cult favorite since its release in '83, VIDEODROME is in some ways a "great flawed film." The characters are far from sympathetic, the plot is often confusing and contradictory, and some of the dialogue is unintentionally hilarious. Yet on the level of images and ideas, VIDEODROME is a rich, compelling experience which will take root in your brain long after the film is over. James Woods turns in a terrific performance as Max Renn, sleazoid co-owner of a quickie TV station. For reasons which never become clear, Renn is chosen as the gateway for public transmission of the "Videodrome" TV signal, which hypnotizes its viewers and causes mind-altering hallucinations. Renn, always on the lookout for the ultimate trash with which to hook his slavish, sensation-seeking audience, is introduced to "Videodrome," a charming bit of snuff TV where men in masks torture women and a black man for no real reason at all, except for cheap thrills. Renn, correctly assuming that sex and violence sell to the masses, tries to discover the human face behind Videodrome. Along the way, he stumbles onto what seems to be a conspiracy to control the mind of the North American audience through TV (hmmm...hasn't this happened by now?), seemingly to create an audience of docile, consumeristic sheep. After a rather shocking sequence of events, Renn becomes one of the "New Flesh," apparently a race of humans who have evolved away from the body to exist entirely in the electronic realm (hmmm...isn't this happening right now?) and are trying to destroy Videodrome. His companion in this journey is masochistic Nicki Brand, played by Deborah Harry at her most glamorous. Nicki, turned onto Videodrome by Max, abandons her life as a "radio personality" and seems to become an entirely image-based being, first used by Videodrome to seduce Max, then somehow escaping and joining the "New Flesh." I know none of this makes much sense, but VIDEODROME has to be seen to be believed. Cronenberg's imagery, realized by FX genius Rick Baker, is incredibly sensual and powerful, using all the resources of the cinema to suggest multiple levels of reality and hallucination. I won't spoil the surprises for you by describing the effects here; let's just say that Cronenberg combines sex, violence, electronics and body/machine anxieties in a new and compelling way. Harry's incredible charisma and style lend the role of Nicki just the right touch of simultaneous allure and wierdness (she is first introduced as an image on a TV screen, and actually spends most of her time in the film in scenes where she is clearly a hyperreal hallucination instead of a person. She and Woods have a very believable chemistry and should have had more scenes together - the script for this film needed a few more drafts. I first saw this movie as a teen-ager, back before the Internet, virtual reality or cybersex existed, and developments in audio-visual technologies since then have only underscored the seriousness and ambition of Cronenberg's vision. Where do we end and our electronic prostheses begin? Is electronic experience more real than real? Is the television screen now truly "the retina of the mind's eye?" I think so. VIDEODROME will make you think of your own environment in a new way. Great late-night viewing!

Because it's on and is certainly more entertaining than The Beachcombers, Magnum P.E.I. or any other Canadian television programming circa 1982. Riding on the wave of his previous box-office success, Videodrome (1982) marks the first time that Cronenberg creates a story revolving around a single character. Like Donleavy's Singular Man (1964), introduction to conflict appears in the first person, point of view narrative acting as the catalyst within which Max Renn (James Woods) is to exist. There is a distinct break between what is supposed to be reality and that of hallucination (revisited later in Naked Lunch [1991]), the point to which is open for debate, a trajectory to which the film never resurfaces from. Certainly, the audience sees what Woods perceives, first person.

Establishing Max Renn as head of Channel 83, the opportunist runs a Toronto-based television station geared at projecting the sensational. After picking up a renegade channel from the otherness of the third world, Max becomes the product of McLuhanesque experimentation, pulses from television signals controlling his thought processes and subsequent actions. The character of Max Renn, it is said, was modeled on Moses Znaimer, head of CITY TV, Toronto's equivalent to Channel 83: Brian Oblivion's monologues a la Speakers Corner.

Our hero's artillery consists of a phallic-like extension housed in a vaginal opening. Nikki Brand (Deborah Harry) represents the desirable introduction to a product that he himself markets, perhaps an obviation that until this point was unattainable? Max's transgressive tendencies are projected through the videodrome, liberating him from the stigmatic purveyor of physical explicitness.

In a sense, Cronenberg has created his notion of Videodrome both as way of weeding out and destroying cells aroused by such activity, and as a way of gauging public sentiment toward this subject matter. The film itself was exposed to the judgmental ardor: its text encompassed, picketed by female members of parliament and removed from public screening, the subtext of subtext. Cut into three versions, the television cut is laughable; the VHS version appears as mise en scène in Atom Egoyan's Speaking Parts (1989), and the old DVD contains an original theatrical trailer that is a fitting pre-curser to this masterpiece.

The Criterion Collection's DVD has the following extra features:

-Two audio commentaries: David Cronenberg and director of photography Mark Irwin, and actors James Woods and Deborah Harry

-Camera (2000), a short film starring Videodrome's Les Carlson, written and directed by Cronenberg

-Forging the New Flesh, a new half-hour documentary featurette by filmmaker Michael Lennick about the creation of Videodrome's video and prosthetic makeup effects

-Effects Men, a new audio interview with special makeup effects creator Baker and video effects supervisor Lennick

-Bootleg Video: the complete footage of Samurai Dreams and seven minutes of transmissions from "Videodrome," presented in their original, unedited form with filmmaker commentary

-Fear on Film, a 26-minute roundtable discussion from 1982 between filmmakers Cronenberg, John Carpenter, John Landis, and Mick Garris

-Original theatrical trailers and promotional featurette

-Stills galleries featuring hundreds of rare behind-the-scenes production photos, special effects makeup tests, and publicity photos English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired

-Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

David Cronenberg's "Videodrome" has become something of a cult classic since it was released in the 1982. Like many of Cronenberg's other films, "Videodrome" focuses on a virus of sorts that changes humanity--in this case, though, its not a modified rabis virus, or mutated form of VD (or even the "mind as virus" as in "Scanners")but, instead, on the media as virus altering us by altering our perception of reality.

The Criterion Blu-ray is pulled from the same high definition source as the DVD released a couple of years back looks marvelous but newly transferred for Blu-ray. "Videdrome" was made at a time when film stocks were going through transition (and like many 80's films)looks a bit vibrant than we might expect a film made today to look. Criterion has done a superb job of creating the ultimate edition of this film. The film looks nearly flawless with no noticeable print damage, speckles evident in other DVD editions (except the Criterion of course) cleaned up. There's a nice, pleasing noticeable level of fine grain and I doubt the film has ever looked this good--including the original prints that ran when the movie was in theaters back in the day.

The print is the version that Cronenberg submitted to the MPAA prior to additional trimming to bring the film in line to what the MPAA considered an "R" rated film. That's important because the MPAA insisted that one key sequence in the film be altered to gain its "R" rating along with a number of other minor trims.

The audio soundtrack sounds extremely good with a 24 bit transfer. Dialogue is crisp and clear and Howard Shore's creepy sythesizer based score sounds marvelous here. It's a pity that the original sound elements didn't under go a 5.1 or stereo mix for this edition but what we do get sounds terrific.

We get two audio commentaries--the first features Cronenberg and his DP Mark Irwin discussing everything from the themes of the film and how the photography embodies them to technical challenges they faced in shooting the film. The second features actor Woods and Deborah Harry who played Renn's lover Nicki in the film. Woods is quite talkative providing considerable insight into his role in the film and what attracted him to working with Cronenberg.

We also get the 2000 short film "Camera" which was produced to celebrate the anniversary of the Toronto Film Festival. It compliments "Videodrome" perfectly almost like an extension of some of the themes from the film. Running around 6 minutes the film was shot on video except for the very last shot.

We also get a very good documentary "Forging the New Flesh" that examines "Videodrome" within the context of its time and its relevance today. There's also "Effects Men" an audio interview as well as the complete footage from the Samurai dream sequence.

Rounting out the special features is the original promotional featurette, theatrical trailer, a roundtable discussion entitled "Fear on Film" from 1982 featuring Cronenberg as well as behind-the-scenes photos. As with all later Criterion releases we get a booklet with essays analyzing the film.

While this is expensive compared to the regular DVD edition, the Criterion Collection edition of "Videodrome" has the film looking the best it ever has with a recent high definition cleaned up transfer as well as extension supplements on the making of the film. For those interested there follows a summary of the plot--

Up and coming media mogul Max Renn (James Woods) is looking for the next big thing to attract an audience to his small cable TV station channel 83. He thinks he has found it with the odd almost hallucinagenic pirate TV program "Videodrome" where production values and story are jetisoned for raw, brutal torture and violence committed against the average person. What Renn uncovers though is a conspriacy to alter humanity as those who watch "Videodrome" begin to have waking halluncinations of a bizarre variety; TVs come to life becoming an extension of human beings; a gun grows into his hand becoming an extension of it; variations of the things he sees on "Videodrome" appear in Renn's world but only to him.

Fans of the movie know the rest of the important plot points and discussing anything else would be major spoilers but if you've seen any of Cronenberg's other films you'll get a sense of the general direction of THIS film.

Recommended.

"Videodrome" is Cronenberg's greatest cinematic triumph, taking the philosophy of TV-critic Marshall McLuhan (who contended "the Medium is the Message") to the next level, where if the Medium is the Message, then the Message in the jaded, faded, infected world of "Videodrome" has devoured the messenger and is roaming around looking for fresh meat---or Flesh.

"Videodrome" is evolutionary. It is radical. It is revolutionary. And if you've seen it, it is probably rewiring your brain even as you innocently read this review. Sucker!

Cronenberg is a revolutionary: "Videodrome" is a chronicle of the means by which the media assumes the role of both human Id and subconscious: to nasty effect. And nasty is right: Videodrome eats the human Id and serves it up in hardy seconds and thirds. Max Renn(the inimitable James Woods) sees the sado-masochistic "Videodrome" as a tool to boost ratings for his Canadian independent film channel, not knowing that it also uses its broadcasting ability to reconfigure the human brain towards cruelty, torture, rape, dissection, perversion, and ultimately assassination.

The acting is all detached and lab-sterile perfect, but you knew that already: James Woods is seamy, desultory, wicked, precise. Deborah Harry was born for this role. Sonja Smits (Bianca O'Blivion)is a touch tedious, but looks good and does what she has to do; Peter Dvorsky lets the nervous tics do the acting, Les Carlson (Barry Convex) is a study in creepy corporate plasticity, and Jack Creley chews scenery as the reclusive Brian O'Blivion, who refuses to deal with anyone directly and sends all his interviews out as pre-recorded videotapes. Choose your format, Beta or VHS?

"Videodrome" bumps and grinds to perfection because Captain Cronenberg---always a visionary cartographer of the boundaries between the mind, the flesh, the Id, and high technology---knows where he wants to take it; Director of Photography Mark Irwin is a superb first mate, steering a wide range of visual images from the realm of banality and commonplace to the outlandish, freakish and bizarre in a heartbeat. Is Renn hallucinating? Does he have a brain tumor? Is that pulsating, fleshy, blood-red and vibrating "videotape" really pulsating, and is Renn really inserting it into his stomach?

Look at the scene transitions, particularly the seamless shift from bedroom to torture chamber. Reality is indistinguishable from Media. Soon our unenviable Mr.Renn illustrates an entirely new meaning of "Plug and Play".

To remain silent on this sumptuous Criterion Collection release would be criminal. The transfer is clean and crisp, which is precisely what you want in a flick where Deborah Harry's lips get plastered across the telescreen. Cronenberg's commentaries are always intriguing, chiefly because he knows to fill in a few gaps with nuggets of information (like telling us that one of the Japanese porn producers in the film later went on to become Canada's Minister of Culture---ehehehe) but leaves the larger mysteries untouched. Bravo!

There's even a creepy little modern short film by Cronenberg called "Camera" with the inimitable Les Carlson, which is unrelated to "Videodrome" but nonetheless ties nicely into the theme of televised reality. Best of all, this tasty special edition is served up like an old VHS Cassette with "Videodrome" 'hand-written' in marker on the side. Sweet.

In the final analysis, "Videodrome" is a film 20 years before its time. We now wrestle every day with the issue of TV and meaning, and typically we lose. For Cronenberg, certainly "Videodrome" was a caustic, wicked commentary on media and consumer culture, but coming hard on the heels of Timoth Leary's drug culture (doesn't "Tune in, Turn on, and Drop Out" fit in the world of "Videodrome"? Or in our own, for that matter?) I don't think that's all there is to it. I think it's more like---Prophecy.

Play. Pause. Replay. Rewind. Play.

Die.

JSG

Videodrome is a rare horror film that is as smart and thought-provoking as it is scary and gory. Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg was fresh from the success of Scanners and this film would continue his fascination with blurring the boundaries between man and technology. Universal previously released this movie on a bare-bones DVD. The folks at Criterion have now given it their deluxe treatment with a beautiful transfer of the uncut version and an impressive collection of extras for fans to enjoy.

In keeping with Criterion's excellent attention to detail, the two DVDs are packaged in a case designed like one of the notorious Videodrome cassettes. All of the DVD menus are designed like pirate broadcasts. It is a nice touch that enhances the experience of watching the movie.

There is a 40-page booklet that features three essays. The first, by Philadelphia Inquirer film critic Carrie Rickey, traces Cronenberg's career from his low-budget horror roots with Shivers to his current status art house fave with Spider. There is also an exhaustive essay on the making of Videodrome by Video Watchdog editor Tim Lucas, and Gary Indiana rounds things out with his thoughts on the movie.

The first disc features two audio commentaries. The first is by director David Cronenberg and the film's director of photography, Mark Irwin. This is a fascinating, thoughtful track as both men speak eloquently about their craft and the movie itself.

The second commentary is by actors James Woods and Deborah Harry. Woods, always the animated talker, not surprisingly dominates this track with his insight and entertaining comments.

Rounding out this disc is a six-minute short film directed by Cronenberg, entitled "Camera."

The second disc starts off with a superb 27-minute documentary called "Forging the New Flesh." It was created specifically for this DVD by the film's video effects supervisor, Michael Lennick, and examines how the incredible make-up and visual effects were achieved.

"Effects Men" is an audio interview with legendary make-up artist Rick Baker and Michael Lennick.

A real treat for die hard fans is "Bootleg Video," which features the unedited footage for the faux softcore porn film, "Samurai Dreams," that Max buys at the beginning of the movie. There is also seven minutes of footage shot for the Videodrome transmissions. Optional commentary by Cronenberg, Irwin and Lennick is available for these segments.

"Fear on Film" is a 26-minute round table discussion with `80s horror film auteurs, John Landis (American Werewolf in London), John Carpenter (The Thing) and Cronenberg. This is a wonderful extra for anyone who grew up watching horror films in the `80s.

There is a "Marketing" section that features vintage trailers, a Making Of featurette, stills and posters used to promote the movie.

And finally, there is an extensive stills gallery with effects photos and production stills taken by Tim and Donna Lucas who were writing an article on the movie for Cinefantastique at the time.

Videodrome arguably best represents Cronenberg's on-going obsession with the merging of man and technology, flesh and electricity. In this respect, it was very influential as evident with the same kind of ominous presence and effects of electricity as in David Lynch's Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. The dangerous manipulation of a video image would also be explored in Lynch's movie, Lost Highway. Videodrome's influence can also be seen in the music video world with the notorious Broken music video collection (that played with staged snuff film imagery) by Nine Inch Nails.