Videodrome [Criterion Collection]

Director: David Cronenberg David Cronenberg

Overview

Hardcore pornography, sadomasochism, mind control, and living televisions all play crucial roles in Videodrome, one of director David Cronenberg's explorations of dangerous sexuality and technological obsession. The morally questionable hero of the tale is one Max Renn (James Woods), a television executive searching for an intense new program for his sex-oriented network. He ultimately discovers an underground program called "Videodrome," which appears to broadcast pornographic snuff films of actual murders. Horrified but perversely intrigued, Renn sets out to find the truth behind the program. During his search, he meets alluring femme fatale Nicki (Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry), technology cult leader Bianca O'Blivion, and other mysterious figures. Things become even more disturbing for Renn as his addiction grows, and the program begins to infect the outside world -- or perhaps merely destroy own his sanity. Cronenberg mingles his cerebral concerns about the nature of reality in the video age with enough visceral gore (courtesy of Rick Baker) to satisfy the film's intended horror audience.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/16/2022
UPC:	0715515276313
Original Release:	1982
Rating:	R
Source:	Criterion Collection
Language:	English
Time:	1:27:00
Sales rank:	12,855

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

James Woods	Max Renn
Sonja Smits	Bianca O'Blivion
Deborah Harry	Nicki Brand
Peter Dvorsky	Harlan
Les Carlson	Barry Convex,Barry Convex
Jack Creley	Prof. Brian O'Blivion
Lynne Gorman	Masha
Julie Khaner	Briley
Reiner Schwarz	Moses
David Bolt	Rafe
Lally Cadeau	Rena King
Sam Malkin	Bum
Bob Church	Newscaster
Jayne Eastwood	Caller
Franciszka Hedland	Bellydancer
Harvey Chao	Salesman
David Tsubouchi	Salesman
Henry Gomez	Brolley
Kay Hawtrey	Matron
Rainer Schwartz	Actor
Kay Hawtry	Matron
Howard Shore	Composer

Technical Credits

David Cronenberg

David Cronenberg	Director,Screenwriter
Pierre David	Executive Producer,Producer
Victor Solnicki	Executive Producer,Producer
Claude Heroux	Producer
Rick Baker	Special Effects
Frank Carere	Special Effects
Michael Lennick	Special Effects
Claude Héroux	Producer
James Stuart Allan	Special Effects
Charles Bowers	Sound Effects
Peter Burgess	Sound Effects
Terry Burke	Sound Effects
Elius Caruso	Sound Effects
Michele Cook	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

Before virtual reality and The Matrix there was Videodrome, the 1982 film that catapulted director David Cronenberg's status from interesting cult icon to seriously heady filmmaker. Visionary, apocalyptic and prescient, Videodrome is a Chinese box of a story replete with Cronenberg's signature creepy eroticism and various fascinations with technology, violence, and bodily orifices. James Woods stars as Max Renn, a sleazy cable exec who searches for programming beyond his station's usual soft-core porn and stumbles upon Videodrome -- a televised chamber of tortuous Grand Guignol horrors. Rocking Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry plays Max's girlfriend, Nicky Brand, who pulls him deeper into Videodrome's orbit. Cronenberg, in total control of his often tricky material, masterfully manipulates the film, creating a dread-soaked criticism of media, voyeurism, and psychological horrors that would give Alfred Hitchcock nightmares. Woods' bravura performance anchors the film: His Max is a dead-on nightmare hipster whose travels through the blandly corrupt urban landscape are frighteningly real.

Barnes & Noble - Rachel Saltz

Well before he adapted William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch, David Cronenberg's debt to the beat writer was laid bare with Videodrome, a phantasmagoric journey through fractured psyches and cathode tubes. The film features several of Burroughs's trademarks, including a stream-of-consciousness narrative, a paranoid, conspiratorial tone, and overriding themes of desire and addiction. At the same time, this movie is perhaps the best articulated vision of Cronenberg's ongoing exploration of the edges of technology and human physiology. Detailing the transformation of a sleazy television producer into literal media terrorist, Cronenberg presents a world of pulsating videotapes, televisions that undulate like flesh, and large, vagina-like abdomen slashes that function as a biomechanic VCR. Though the technology, special-effects, and fashion sensibilities all seem dated, Cronenberg's basic questioning of the media through Max Renn's particular psychological affliction seems more relevant today than it did when his film was first released. As technology becomes more advanced, Cronenberg explores not only whether it will affect our sense of reality but also our evolution as a species. His Videodrome is a postmodern masterpiece that unsettles, shocks, and provokes.

All Movie Guide - Jonathan Crow