I thought it might be fun to have a monthly review series, mainly about movies. So, here we are, and so without further ado, here's the first installment...
Videodrome is a very, very strange film. It follows the story of Max Renn as he attempts to track down the minds behind the titular broadcast, which gives everyone who views it [including Renn himself] a hallucination-inducing brain tumor. Reality and television blur further and further as the film progresses until they become entirely indistinguishable.
The primary message which Cronenburg wished to convey, that is to say, the ease with which the line between fiction and reality blurs and how deeply art and the media can alter their viewers’ minds, is very much apparent. However, it is displayed in a very unconventional way. Essentially, the film is seen through the perspective of not an objective third person but a limited one; it is seen through the perspective of Renn himself as his grasp on reality slips and he becomes increasingly disoriented and descends into madness. Subsequently, it is absolutely essential to understand this if one is to make sense of Videodrome at all.
An indeterminate amount of Videodrome is merely Renn’s hallucinations; ergo the line between what is really happening outside of Renn’s tumor-infested brain and what is not is indistinguishable, a metaphor for the blurring of fiction and reality and an excellent move on Cronenburg’s part in that department. The themes of sex and violence and subsequently how they intertwine, how they are presented in material such as pornography and shock films, and how one can become increasingly desensitized to and addicted to the thrill of both, help frame the concept of television, and fictitious material as a whole, having such sway over humanity.
The appearances of Renn’s romantic interest Nikki and her connection with the Videodrome signal is quite clever as well; following her trying out for and being killed on Videodrome, she becomes a hollowed-out shell of herself that Videodrome speaks to Renn through. It uses her image to seduce him and manipulate him into descending deeper and deeper into delusion. Renn is not chasing a person anymore, he is merely chasing another delusion. In this way, she serves as a kind of metaphor for intimacy, beauty, and the quest for human connection, and how they can be exploited and used to exploit.
Visually, Videodrome is spectacular. The practical effects are brilliantly disturbing, one of the most memorable being seen when the television Renn is watching in one scene suddenly becomes a pulsating, living organism. The only issues present in the VFX department are that some of the occasional digital elements [such as the static on one television screen as it warps into flesh] appear a bit dated, and there aren’t more of the gorgeous practical ones, the latter of which was obstinately due to budget and time constraints, and the former the passage of time.
The film’s pacing does leave something to be desired. Certain aspects of the movie, such as the Cathode Ray Mission and Specular Optical, seem a bit underexplored, like more time should have been spent analyzing the inner workings thereof, and the movement between scenes can appear rushed at times. Additionally, the abstract presentation can work against the film in some regards, making it somewhat hard to follow on first watch.
Consensus:
Did I enjoy the film?
I was very, very confused by Videodrome for days after I had watched it. I didn’t like it nor hate it; I was merely very confused. However, as I further processed it, I gained a deep appreciation of the film and what it had to say. I’d say that I did enjoy it quite a bit in the end, though it took a while and a bit of thinking about the meaning behind it to fully do so.
Who would I recommend it to?
I’d recommend it to individuals looking for unconventional and strange films, television-based horror, or weird 80s cinematic gems, especially someone from anyone of the above groups also interested in something with a surprising amount of depth. I would not recommend it to someone looking for a conventional horror movie along the lines of a slasher flick [as it is abstract enough that it almost is closer to a “deep unsettlement” film than a mainstream “horror” one] or someone who wants something straightforward, as it is anything but.