REVIEWED
..::Dissociative December - A Cold Month Of Mind Control::..
“Whats in the box?” - Max Renn (James Woods)
“Your head, your heads in the box.” - Harlan (Peter Dvorsky)
Television, The Drug Of The Nation... while searching for new sleaze for his grotty low rent cable station CIVIC TV, Max Renn stumbles onto a pirate feed of an S&M torture snuff show named Videodrome. Thinking hes found the next big thing in sexual violence, he tries to seek out its makers and purchase the show. As Max watches more and more he starts to hallucinate and gets drawn into its illicit conspiracy, and he becomes a pawn in Videodromes developers Spectacular Optical Corporations plan to control the minds of North America.
Baring in mind that Videodromes really showing its age, and Debbie Harry isn't the most natural actress to have graced the silver screen, its still a daringly bold movie. Alongside Dead Ringers its Cronenbergs crowning achievement, hes always been on top of his game when working on his own material. James Woods is perfect as the sleazeball cable boss. I love Peter Dvorsky character Harlan, and legendary Rick Bakers over the top effects work, including the infamous vaginal stomach slit, pulsating television bursting with intestines, throbbing betamax cassettes and fleshed guns & grenades. Life long Cronenberg composer Howard Shore delivers the frenzied organ heavy score. My personal highlights always been the Samurai Dreams dildo scene, which probably does nothing to dissuade DC's critiques who often label him a voyeur or even a pornographer. Its amusing when Cronenberg says if the movie had been shot like he'd originally intended, it would have been given a triple X by censors.
[Personal Reasons For OBEYING]
Max Renn becomes a controlled dissociative assassin by subliminal video images hidden within the snuff like show Videodrome. He later gets reprogrammed by Brian O'Blivion's daughter Bianca to kill the developers of the show. Cronenberg cleverly manages to tie both religious and secretive corporate power as being behind Videodrome. O'Blivion's clearly the religious nut as we see with his Cathode Ray Mission, and office filled with religious iconography. While Barry Convex is the scheming shady corporate guy who shifts units of specs, develops secretive weapons for nato, while creating a world of illusions to control the public.
[x] Gleefully plays on the old concept that TV will rot your brain.
[x] They're stealing our thoughts - The virtual reality like headset known as the Image Accumulator can record hallucinations.
[x] Videodrome has a philosophy - Cronenberg using old Freud & Carl Jung again with Renns statement about Brands provocative red dress.
Originally taken from Letterboxd
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