Are you looking for some truly bizarre, messed-up gore? ‘Videodrome,’ a 1983 Canadian film, is the solution! ‘Videodrome,’ a science fiction body horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg, who is quite probably one of the most legendary connoisseurs of gore, is notable for its horrific images prominent throughout the film.
Cronenberg is known as the “Godfather of Body Horror,” having directed films like “Shivers” and “Rabid.” In his works, he has depicted some of the most horrific sights. This is the stuff that makes your face pucker up and one eye peep at the screen. His works are not for the faint of heart or those who are prone to sickness. Cronenberg has previously explored issues such as mutations, taboo sex, and the negative consequences of scientific developments, and ‘Videodrome’ is no exception.
As terrible as his concepts may have been, it is unfortunate for humanity as a whole that reality is increasingly closing in on Cronenberg’s universe and virtually replicating it. In some ways, his perspective on technology has been prophetic, and this can be seen in his ‘Videodrome’ as well. This has always been his objective, as he enjoys intertwining unpleasant material with societal concepts in his stories. It appeals to his audience’s primitive instincts while also stimulating their minds.
When it comes to presenting the nasty aspects of his work, Cronenberg is quite graphic, thus it is no surprise that he depicts sadism and masochism in ‘Videodrome’ pretty vividly. Nothing is merely ‘implied’ here. Is something heinous being alluded to? On your screen, you will just see a highly vivid image of it. The film has it all, from torture scenes to organs spilling out of a dead person’s body. And it is all driven by the desire for technology to take over every aspect of human life.
The story centers around Max Renn, the President of a small UFH television channel, whose already troubled mind becomes even more so after being exposed to a signal from a broadcast channel known for its violent images.Max’s hallucinations cause him to lose contact with reality, but he paradoxically gets closer to the truth and uncovers a mind-control scheme.
James Woods, Debbie Harry, Sonja Smits, Peter Dvorsky, Jack Creley, Leslie Carlson, and Lynne Gorman are among the cast members.
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Breaking Down The Plot Of Videodrome And Breaking Into The Psyche Of Max Renn
The movie opens with the protagonist Max Renn (played by James Woods) receiving a very personalized message about his chores for the day from CIVIC-TV, a channel he owns. Interestingly, the channel is based on a real channel from Toronto called CITY-TV, which gained fame for airing softcore porn.
Max has his meal and leaves for a meeting with a group of Japanese salesmen who play a bunch of smut video clips for him, hoping to get them approved for Max’s shady channel. However, Max is too hardcore for basic smut and thinks it is too soft for CIVIC-TV. Funnily, the salesman who appeared in this scene left acting soon enough and became a politician in Canada. Maybe his character getting rejected by a shady channel made him reconsider his entire career plan.
The scene shifts to the broadcast room and we meet the technician Harlan (played by Peter Dvorsky), who is attempting to stabilize and track the signal for accessing a weirdly problematic channel. This channel airs a program where people are tortured and killed. Now, who in their right minds would be into that stuff? But that’s what this movie is about. Every character is out of their minds, and not in an Alice in Wonderland way.
Max gets interviewed by the radio host Nicki Brand, over the perverse and sadistic nature of CIVIC-TV. Max believes that his channel exists to fulfill the basic desires of the audience, which also helps them stay in the race as a small channel. He gets involved in some flirtatious banter with Nicki while being on-air as the host of the show plays a video montage of Professor Oblivion (which they believed to be a conversation).
Oblivion talks about fake names taking over to make the technological experience more interesting, which is surprisingly what the present looks like, with social media and celebrity culture being all about fake names and appearances. People won’t find a Shawn Carter cool, but make it Jay-Z and watch the following increase! Why else would Donald Glover use the alias Childish Gambino for his music career?
Anyway, back to the movie. Harlan has succeeded in locking into the signal for ‘Videodrome’, the show where people were tortured and murdered. The show had absolutely no plotlines.
Harlan does what he does, as the operator of an unauthorized satellite dish for CIVIC-TV. Max is intrigued by the show and thinks that this will be the future of television, unaware that people in the future will prefer sitcoms, animes, and K-dramas over torture and killings while streaming websites kill the television channel market.
He takes the tape of the show home, where he is seen with Nicki Brand from the interview. He makes her watch it and it turns out Nicki is very sadomasochistic herself. If you thought foot fetishes and furry fetishes were creepy, you are simply not ready for Nicki’s kink. She watches the torture scenes and gets very turned on, after which she hooks up with Max. Max even pierces her ear with a pin and licks the blood. Count Dracula is being put out of business here. He also hallucinates being in the same torture chamber like the one in the show while having sex with Nicki.
Max meets up with softcore pornographer Masha the next morning to learn more about Videodrome. Later, Nicki tells Max that she intended to audition for Videodrome. Max is not pleased and warns her, but Nicki takes things further and burns herself with a cigarette, showing him how hardcore she can be.
Masha tells Max that the show is real and unscripted while being the face of a political movement. She advises Max to meet with Professor O’Blivion. He goes to the Professors’ alleged location and meets with his daughter Bianca (played by Sonja Smits) who tells him that the Professor only interacts via his video montages. Max brings up Videodrome and she pretends to not know anything about it. He brings a videotape of O’Blivion with him.
That night, he gets his hands on a gun for self-defense and for no reason, hits his assistant. He apologizes to her, but she says that he never hit her. He is taken aback and she leaves. He looks at the videotape and watches it move for real. He freaks out but then plays the tape where he talks about normal life being a sub-reality while the TV show was the new real world. The footage shifts to images of Nicki as Max puts his face inside a bulging television screen (which is a part of his hallucination).
The next day, he returns to Bianca as he was disturbed by the occurrences where he learns that the broadcast signals emitted by Videodrome cause viewers to contract a malignant brain tumor. Professor O’Blivion too had contracted this. Max also finds out about the Professor dying eleven months ago which is why he always communicated in the form of videos. O’Blivion was also involved in its creation but ended up as a victim.
That night, Max feels an itch on his stomach which manifests into a giant opening, almost resembling a female genital. He inserts his gun inside it but suddenly finds that there’s nothing. It is just a hallucination. He is contacted by Barry Convex (Leslie Carlson), the producer of Videodrome, who uses a device to record Max’s hallucinations. Max finds himself in fantasy as he sees Nicki on a screen and whips the screen. Suddenly, Max finds himself in his bed beside Masha’s corpse.
He immediately calls Harlan to record Masha’s dead corpse but he tells Max that there was nothing on his bed. He lashes out at Harlan and asks to meet him in the lab for the latest broadcast. However, Harlan breaks the ice as he tells Max about Videodrome never being aired and Harlan never hallucinating as he never watched the show.
Turns out, Harlan and Convex are allied with the common goal of ending the cultural decay of being obsessed with violence and sadistic sex in North America. And they intended to achieve it by giving the consumers of such content, a fatal tumor. Convex inserts a tape inside Max’s abdominal slit from that hallucination, which brainwashes him to kill his coworkers at CIVIC-TV.
When Max tries to kill Bianca, she shows him a tape of Nicki being murdered on the set of Videodrome and reprograms his brain to side with the Professor’s belief i.e., Death to Videodrome, Long live the new flesh. He ends up killing Convex and Harlan and becomes a wanted criminal.
In the end, Nicki appears on television and talks about Videodrome weakening but remaining undefeated. To destroy it, Max had to leave his old flesh behind, and she shows him a video of him shooting himself. Max points the gun to his own head, chants ‘Long Live The New Flesh’, and shoots himself.
Videodrome is best experienced when watched because no matter how detailed a video you watch about it or the article you read, nothing compares to the horrifying scenes of gore that plague the screen as you watch the movie. And the special effects of the graphic scenes were done by the legendary Rick Baker, making it one of the greatest of 80s horror. Unfortunately, due to a lower budget, several scenes had to be cut off. One such probable notable scene would have been Nicki and Max undergoing terrifying body transformations, but it had to be omitted.
The numbers it did in the box office were far from good, as the movie was created on a budget of $5.9 million but it grossed only $2.1 million. This is understandable as you cannot expect the average person to enjoy gruesome scenes of torture and organs falling apart on the big screen, which is also why the movie is such a cult classic today.
Disturbing gore has its niche audience, and the psychosexual nature of the movie along with the political undertones and techno-surrealism is conceptually very unique. James Woods’ performance was the icing on the cake for this movie, and it all seems bigger than life in the end as he was the one who came up with the ending.
The movie dives into a future where everyday life is plagued by technology, which is coincidentally what has happened in reality. Technology was initially a gift but soon became the root cause of almost every existing world problem – starting from war to global warming. This is mainly due to its usage by corrupted minds. This is exactly what Cronenberg tries to depict throughout his script.
CIVIC-TV’s Malicious Radio Broadcast Explored!
When Max Renn first watches the footage of Videodrome, he considers it to be the next best thing and the future of television. If you think about things realistically, this is a very hyperbolic take towards reality TV taking over the media. Back in the 80s, reality TV was not nearly as popular as it is today, but visionary people can often figure out where the trends are heading and what might become a norm in the future.
In 2021, relying on television channels as the primary source of entertainment feels ancient, and yet, the cons of reality TV plagues society through other mediums. You can avoid Netflix suggestions, but what do you do when you’re constantly subjected to non-substantial reels and TikTok that do nothing but make you feel bad about yourself, your financial status, and your appearance. In a way, it creates a metaphorical tumor in your brain which is more mental than physical, but living with the weight of it is terrifying nonetheless.
Contrary to ‘Videodrome’ being plotless, ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ has a plot juicy enough to keep the viewers on their toes for an entire decade.
What initially comes off as a movie that only wants to get a kick out of presenting gore, gradually evolves into something more cerebral as the audience learns about Cronenberg’s true intention and message. This comes forth in the form of information shared by both Masha and Professor O’Blivion, who tells Max that Videodrome is just a face for a far bigger political movement in North America. This is confirmed in the scene where Harlan and Convex confess to Max about being against the cultural decay in North America.
As Harlan shows Max Videodrome during the initial scenes, Max believes Harlan to be someone who also gets a kick out of such torturous content and so does the audience. However, it is later revealed that this was just a front for inducing a fatal, malignant tumor in the brains of those who enjoy such content because why would any sane person want to consume tortures and murders.
Convex wants to air Videodrome on CIVIC-TV with the aid of Harlan, to eliminate those who would watch the show when it airs. Once again, this might sound far-fetched but is it really? There’s particularly nothing wrong with softcore porn, or enjoying pornographic content but how much is too much? Where do you draw the line? Videodrome content is similar to the dark web, a dangerous part of the internet where people have no business venturing into. But whether they do so or not is a personal choice.
Several people use it because they feel strongly about protecting their privacy. Meanwhile, it is also the breeding ground for terrorist organizations and lots of illicit activities.
Cronenberg highlights the societal decay in North America early into the movie. When Max meets with the salesmen who pitch Japanese softcore porn to him, Max rejects it simply because it was too soft. He desired for something terrible. And soft porn was simply not cutting it. He was convinced the audience wanted something a lot more disturbing. This is why Harlan and Convex felt the need to eliminate a chunk of people in North America. Convex used the brainwashing videotape to make Max kill everyone working for CIVIC-TV because according to his ideology, only people with plagued brains would work for a channel that enjoyed this kind of stuff.
Max probably was not wrong about the fact that people would enjoy Videodrome. Everyone secretly likes a little bit of taboo. And with hyper-consumerism, people want everything in exorbitant amounts. Now, imagine this in a world where a person’s only source of entertainment is from a television channel, where they cannot choose their preferred show. They would glue themselves to the screen every time Videodrome came on. And the tumor is symbolic of how our brains have decayed over time.
Great directors are often good at tapping into the subconscious of their audience and tickling the parts that people often ignore, bringing certain concealed things to the surface. With ‘Videodrome’, Cronenberg brings out a perverse nature present in people, possibly even within himself. After all, it is easier to paint something one has experienced. Cronenberg holds up a mirror to his audience, making them come to terms with their deeply seated perverse nature which once again makes them think – How much is too much?
When the viewers watch the sex scene between Max and Nicki, it is socially acceptable for them to find it arousing. Nevertheless, it is not socially acceptable for them to be aroused by the part where he pierces a pin through her ears and licks it.
It is socially acceptable to enjoy regular porn. Well, you cannot go around talking about what kind of porn you like in a family gathering, but it is something you can discuss with people without being judged. But if you talk about having a preference for torture, murder, and the likes, it becomes a much bigger taboo than just sex.
We already know that ‘Videodrome’ is prophetic in a way. Sadism and masochism have penetrated culture. These are openly spoken about within certain circles and more and more people are open to them, diversifying their sexual palette. Some believe that as long as there is consent, it is okay. Some believe that the need for such sexual tactics is a perversion. Nicki consented to Max’s sexual perversion so it is technically not unethical. Still, it did give you the creeps. In a way, attraction and sexual needs come from deep-rooted trauma caused in humans due to a society that has not nurtured them emotionally. So once again, where do you draw the line?
With time, people have become more and more desensitized to everything. This is primarily due to overexposure to sex and violence. An act of violence in a peaceful place calls for much more attention than repeated acts of violence in a place where violence is the norm. You would think that the latter would call for more attention but when it is the norm, it is just a plain ole day for people. It is not far-fetched to believe that Cronenberg’s vision has, unfortunately, come true.
Why Should You Watch Videodrome 1983?
If you want to witness a 1980s prediction of the future come true, watch ‘Videodrome’. If you want to see some incredible special effects work, watch ‘Videodrome’. If you simply enjoy graphic imagery, watch ‘Videodrome’. If you think technology and perversion have gone too far, watch ‘Videodrome’.
Apart from being a movie with a deep message regarding societal downfall due to technology, ‘Videodrome’ is simply an entertaining movie to watch. Sometimes, things do not have to be too deep. You can simply enjoy watching a person’s organs spill out of their body after being shot because horror has to be horrifying.
‘Videodrome’ has suspense that unravels with each scene. It builds the tension with Nicki and Max, keeping the audience hooked with some scandalous scenes. The plot levels up due to the information revealed by Masha and the O’Blivions. It gets sickening and interesting as Max’s hallucinations get worse. There is an intense plot twist following Harlan and Convex’s revelation and a violent climax. Add all the spices to the dish and you get the feast that is ‘Videodrome’.
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