Videodrome (1983)

Got this one from the independent video shop close by.  I recently found a list of 150 great controversial films not normally seen.  I have a somewhat unnatural hunger for films such as this because they push the boundaries of creativity and because most of the normal great movies I've already seen.  So out of the list of 150 there were 88 that I have yet to see, and because in a recent DVDeusday Chris Gore mentioned how much he liked it I decided to make this my first off the list. 

Set in Toronto during the early 80s, it follows the CEO of a small cable station who stumbles upon a broadcast signal featuring extreme violence and torture. The layers of deception and mind-control conspiracy unfold as he uncovers the signal's source and loses touch with reality in a series of increasingly bizarre and violent organic hallucinations.

35/50 Eggs

I don't know what it is that David Cronenberg has. But it's something that leaves me with a queasy feeling in my gut every time i watch one of his movies. But while they are unpleasant they are also hugely fascinating. Much in the same way that Max Renn in Videodrome is drawn to the violence on-screen while at the same time repulsed by it. I will not try to analyze whether this is David Cronenbergs comment on a society that is becoming more and more used to violence, or if it is just another of his ventures into a world where man and machine are ultimately merging into one. Rather i would leave that interpretation up to the viewer, because this is certainly a movie that stayed with me for a while.

James Woods is excellent as usual and the effects are good (at least if you keep in mind that this movie is over 20 years old). But mostly what impresses me is the way that Videodrome mixes ingredients like violence, sex and hallucinations to create something unique that in my opinion never feels like exploitation.

It's definitely a bit outside the realm of the preferred norm, and therefore I only recommend it to those with a open mind to film.