Anyone seen this? I watched it for the first time tonight, and wow, what a fucking trip. I am a big fan of Cronenberg's "The Brood", but for some reason "Videodrome" has eluded me for years. In retrospect, it really was a precursor for all the virtual reality-themed movies we see today, and one of the earlier ones to intertwine it with the presence of television. Also, who knew that James Woods had such a hot body? He showed his body off nude from the back, and he had an ass that I couldn't believe.
My roommate loved this movie and made me watch it way back when. She would proclaim "the television screen is the retina of the mind's eye," and laugh herself silly. I still remember the business with Woods loading a VHS tape into his abdomen.
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | October 6, 2019 7:11 AM |
Is that James Wood? AVOID!
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | October 6, 2019 7:24 AM |
I think Videodrome is one of Cronenberg’s best films. It still feels relevant to this day.
And Debbie Harry looked absolutely stunning in it.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | October 6, 2019 7:52 AM |
I haven't seen this since I was a teenager just tearing my way through cinema. This was around the time Netflix started up and it was just a DVD service. I don't remember much from the film now, but I remember loving the experience and how bizarre the body horror was. I remember there being some commentary on media and like... a catch phrase. "Long live the new flesh!" I think it was? Definitely remember the video in the abdomen bit. I own the Criterion Blu-ray, but haven't watched it yet. I should revisit it.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | October 6, 2019 8:01 AM |
You and I are of the same era, R5. I used to rent stuff from Netflix's DVD service in high school to fill in the gaps on what the local video store didn't carry (which was surprisingly a lot of weird shit). I unconsciously avoided David Cronenberg until after college, partly because I think I associated him with science fiction, a genre I don't really care for—but the reality is his films are often more horror than they are sci-fi. My first exposure to him was "The Brood," and I think I saw "Dead Ringers" after that. I absolutely love "The Brood," but I was very impressed with "Videodrome"; there is so much playful mirroring going on throughout it which allows for effective mindfuckery. I loved the twist(?) when Bianca reveals to Max that Nicki had been tortured to death and that Videodrome used her image to lure him in after she was already dead—there is something about that that is innately disturbing.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | October 6, 2019 8:48 AM |
Yeah, I loved this film, OP. I grew up immersed in science fiction and fantasy books and movies thanks to my dad. When downloading media first became prevalent, this was one of the first things I picked up.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | October 6, 2019 9:08 AM |
Ditto on Debbie Harry, R4. I've always thought she was startlingly gorgeous. She has a sensuous beauty that worked well for the role, and she possesses one of those faces that I could just stare at for hours—she has such unique bone structure. She had the sort of beauty that Madonna wishes she'd had.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | October 6, 2019 9:56 AM |
Acid, acid, acid.
ACID.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | October 6, 2019 10:13 AM |
I had it on tv but was only half paying attention. Obviously the stomach vagina scene stuck with me.
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | October 6, 2019 2:11 PM |