Review of Videodrome (1983) by Spencer S — 18 Jul 2012

Cronenberg is for sure one of my favorite directors for his use of the surreal, his intense visual choices, and the underlying layers he uses to illustrate important points in the story. Videodrome has been described as techno-surrealism, but today it's more nostalgic about the world of pirate tapes and feeds, than anything.

Its staying power comes from its intense, nearly prescient choices which have become partially true. The film focuses on the inane theory that we are what we watch, which is explored in the most macabre, sexually explicit, violent way possible.

James Woods is the seminal sleazy executive, in a future not too far off, where his demeanor is socially accepted though understandably crude. He in turn is joined by Debbie Harry who is as insatiable as he, while retaining her own deluded grandeur.

It isn't clear whether her views are challenged in this world or she is a product of the same programming that Woods' character is selling to the masses. In turn Videodrome, a pirated feed that he tries to use for his television station, is a complex and intricately layered concept that is certainly used to its full extent for the purpose of the plot.

The entire film is grotesque from start to finish, beginning with slick images and ending with a political and social message that carries with it some pretension. The entire film is a bit heavyhanded, but with its surrealist quality and ability to shift attention with inventive visual choices it wins me over.

The visuals include making a large abdominal wound, and the television into its own alive entity. I found the flow of the plot to be a bit confusing in places, as every Cronenberg is full of intrigue and mysterious circumstances, but the feel of it, the odd logic and the even stranger visuals, make it quite entertaining.

Either way you will be entertained by the amazing choices and past techno effects of the director, who is for sure the most innovative voice in cinema of the past thirty years.