Review of Videodrome (1983) by Michael B — 31 Aug 2009

A weird one to say the least. Packed with imagery that would have not been alien in an H.G. Giger gallery, it leaves the viewer feeling a little violated and very much disturbed.

The feel of the movie is borderline cyberpunk. A near-future where satellite television is as common as magazines and just as versatile. It's delightfully anachronistic, and yet manages to convey the same feeling that we might have felt about the internet in the late 90's. The accessibility of pornographic material and the urban legends of overconsumption or stumbling upon material not meant for the public, are still prevalent today. They make the rounds as spam terror stories and they hold the same fears as they did when they were told about the television as far back as 1940's. Thus making this movie relevant although the technology depicted is slowly disappearing.

The only real complaint I have against this movie is that the surrealism muddles the plot a bit. It's part of the magic of the movie, I know. But the last scenes of the movie can be hard to interpenetrate. Does Max really changes reality? Or is this just an illusion? Or a symbolic imagery? Does he ascend through this new organ in his brain? Or is it part of the conspiracy that compels him to commit suicide to destroy the last piece of evidence? Or is the tumor in his brain killing him and what we see is just a symbolic representation of that fact?

Either way, it's hard to emerge from the movie with any distinct feeling besides the abdominal pain (my stomach really is hurting since I saw it, half an hour ago) of having seen something truly disturbing. It's a hope inspiring reminder that it wasn't that long ago when American cinema showed so much promise and originality.