Starring: James Woods, Deborah Harry,Sonja Smits
Director: David Cronenberg
I found this one a bit of a hard watch, and I think that with Cronenberg films, that’s kind of the point. Her certainly does shake you up, shock you and make you think. Though perhaps this isn’t always a good thing.
Known as the “body horror” director, that is, horror movies that involve body gross out type themes, Videodrome tells the story of Max, a slimey cable station operator who starts to grow a vagina in his body that can do things like play audiocassettes after he buys programs for his channel that are ultra violent and sexual.
Like I said, not for everyone, but it does star Deborah Harry.
It’s A Must See Because: The film was quite groundbreaking at the time, and is totally weird. Its all about a guy who is cynical and immoral in the extreme, and who in response to this, grows a vagina like opening… I mean, it’s disgusting and confronting. Max is also confronting and disgusting. But it’s also exploring the way that watching violence and overly sexual images changes us, and probably not in a good way.
Cronenberg is making an interesting point, since censors had often lambasted or chopped up his films before release, is he Max? Are the censors who watch all this stuff before deciding who else can watch it, are they Max? I don’t know. Maybe.
See It If: I can’t really recommend this one as one to watch, because it’s kind of gross, violent and icky. I think it’s not for everyone, but it’s definitely an interesting film.
Love this 105 series. I’m always writing movie name notes on my iPhone, but somehow they always get deleted accidentally. Lol. Now I have a good link to a list I can’t accidentally delete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh thank you! Yeah, I have the same thing, watch lists all over the place. I’m glad you like the list, it was fun to put together. 😃 And to watch. ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep, this was definitely a weird one, but as you say, I think that is pretty much the point of every Cronenberg movie 😀 I have seen this one years ago, and know that James Woods was pretty awesome (but then again,he pretty much is like that in every movie 😀) Great post!
LikeLiked by 1 person
James Woods is so… Like great & icky! Wonderful actor. Def a weird film. Lol.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree with your theme of too much sex and violence affecting us in a negative way. But I think Lynch is a little heavy-handed– Max literally becomes an automaton, doing the bidding of whoever put a tape in his abdomen last. Also, like with a lot of Lynch films, he doesn’t offer a solution or even consider the possibility of one. I know being pessimistic is part of the dystopian ethic, but when Lynch’s film becomes just as monstrous as the media he is criticizing, it looks like he is only interested in being a part of the problem.
LikeLike
Do you mean Cronenberg or David Lynch?
Yes, it’s interesting that in trying to show society a problem that you see in it, you can become part of the problem. I think perhaps Cronenberg wanted to gross out the critics of his usual body horror films even more, to make a point. But is the film any fun to watch? 😂
LikeLike