(1983) Videodrome

I still have a few Cronenberg movies left to see but this might be my favorite film of his to date. No no…The Fly is. Ehh shit, well I don’t even know now.

Videodrome is a fucking trip and it’s an incredible feat of psychological horror while also being a visually horrific movie. The film follows James Woods as he battles visceral hallucinations and delusions after intercepting a TV broadcast called videodrome. It’s a clear and blatant statement about the potential power and influence the media has but done in the most creative way imaginable.

I actually loved the message here just as much as I enjoyed the movie for its visuals and story. Cronenberg is warning society about becoming desensitized from using raw instances of sex and violence for entertainment. I can’t think of a more relevant horror movie at the moment, this was so far ahead of its time.

I didn’t find this movie to be convoluted but I recognize that’s the central point of any negative review surrounding it. That’s the whole fucking movie though, it’s meant to be fucking confusing and disorientating. People that chop that up to be something negative hurt the film industry by shunning potential original ideas simply because they don’t understand them. How a film like Mulholland Drive gets away with it and Videodrome doesn’t is beyond me.

It’s worth mentioning that James Woods is incredible as a lead here and completely encompasses the role. He manages to look unsure of what he’s doing in the midst of being totally controlled by videodrome. It really ads another layer of fear as we watch him quickly slip past the point of no return.

Sorry for the brief douchey elitist paragraph shunning negative reviews for this movie, it’s obviously perfectly okay to not like something, especially when it’s as complex as videodrome. With that being said, this is the best horror movie I’ve seen in a very long time and I’ll still be digesting it over the next few days.

9.5/10