Videodrome (1983) 87 Minutes

Movienight’s Horror Month rolled on with this unexpected and pitch perfect

Wiener pick. Our second Criterion Collection print, ‘Videodrome’ looked

beautiful up on the Stucco.

Silas Mitchell finally made it to Movienight, and though Jaja was absent, the

rest of the Crew was joined by Netti and Pratt for this warm October night.

As beautiful as the print was, some of the audience was perturbed by the

seemingly poor lip sync of the film. Given Cronenberg’s history of mind

bending cinematic techniques, there was speculation that the off kilter sync

was a deliberate choice by the director to heighten the impact of this mind

bending film.

Filmed in Wiener’s native Toronto, ‘Videodrome’ marks the Movienight debut of the legendary David Cronenberg. James Woods and Debbie Harry also graced the Stucco for the first time here. Returning to the Back Yard was the incredible work of Tooda’s childhood hero, Rick Baker. Already familiar to the Crew from his Academy Award winning prosthetics in ‘An American Werewolf in London,’ Baker’s incredible make-up work on ‘Videodrome’ reminds us that the impossible was made real long before computer graphics.

Next week marks the end of our Halloween Horror cycle, and we are still waiting for Official word on whose pick it will be. Only time will tell.

“It’s just torture and murder. No plot. No characters. Very, very realistic. I think it’s what’s next.”

Written and Directed by: David Cronenberg

BBD Comments:

‘Videodrome’ may well be the most unexpected pleasure Movienight has ever seen. It was so exciting to sit in an audience that had never seen Cronenberg’s phenomenally freaky treaty on the power and pitfalls of television.

The anti-‘Network,’ ‘Videodrome’ is as prophetic about the degradation of moral fiber and sexual intimacy brought about by the individual isolation of videotape as Chayefsky’s masterwork was about the dangers of corporate-run news. Cronenberg fashions a fascinating story to carry his theme and aptly casts cinema’s most loveable sleaze bag, James Woods, as the story’s protagonist, Max Renn.

While its allegory may be heavier handed than Chayefsky’s deft monologue driven ‘Network,’ ‘Videodrome’ gets away with its less than subtle touches (The Cathode Ray Mission) as it operates in the realm of the subconscious and the nightmare. The mind-bending hallucinations littered throughout the story forgive some of the bluntness of Cronenberg’s storytelling.

Much as I marveled at the authentic stunt work in ‘What’s Up, Doc?,’ Rick Baker’s masterful make-up effects remind us of the forgotten power of handmade in-camera imagery to transport us. Baker’s work in ‘Videodrome’ was his first follow-up to his Academy Award winning work in ‘An American Werewolf in London’ and it is even more incredible than the transformation in that film. Videocassettes pulsate and breathe, televisions undulate as blood courses in their veins, and inexplicably Woods grows a gun-eating vagina in his belly. The imagery is so powerful because it seems only possible in the recesses of a drug-addled mind. Not even ‘2001’ can hold a candle to the subconscious horrors Cronenberg and Baker make us endure in this film. The bottom line is it may represent the most incredible hand made effects ever put on screen, even eclipsing Baker’s own opus - the apes from ‘Greystoke.’

Wiener has selected a pick that adds to the wonderful momentum of Movienight’s second year. We have been humming of late, and the unexpected pleasures that we have seen on the Stucco are typified by this pick. It was largely unseen, totally unexpected, and seamlessly continues the ongoing conversation that Year Two has begun. I wait with baited breath to see what Wednesday has in store, and hope against hope that Coolbaugh wraps up jury duty in time to join us in the Back Yard.

Coolbaugh Comments:

I thought ‘Videodrome’ was awesome, and I am proud to own it. Although, I’d be more proud if I had the case the disc came in. I was impressed that Wiener came with such a solid follow up to ‘Evil Dead II.’ Perfect.

It reminded me of a bad acid trip, which I’ve never had the misfortune to experience. As James Woods’ Max Renn battles with his altered state of reality, I was reminded, without pause, of ‘Evil Dead II.’ The imagery was powerful at once, and has been emblazoned in my mind. The VHS tape (tagged) coming to life is when I realized we were in for a doozie. Debbie Harry was impressive, playing the part of the siren serenading Renn into the bipolar cavern of his darkest fantasies.

I’m not so sure that Television is anything more than a vehicle, or metaphor for current influence. This exact same film could be made at any period, adopting a different method of persuasion, and (obviously) taking a different moniker. It’s a simple message, really - we’re all just there – right on the edge of O’blivion, and all it takes is a little nudge, and you’re gone. It’s pretty damn universally applicable. If Debbie Harry was calling me to the island, I just might take the plunge.

Thanks Wiener for a great pick. Now where’s the DVD case?

Netti Comments:

This is fertile ground. ‘Videodrome,’ I had seen on cable when I was in grade school. It was an unsettling film, I remember. However, metaphorical implications throughout the film were largely missed, save the obvious: television is bad, technology is changing us, etc. But having seen a number of Cronenberg films since that first viewing, I think I understand better his obsessions. Control over one's own mind and body resonates with me. I have myself, to use Robert Anton Wilson's phrase, visited the "Chapel Perilous". It is a dangerous place. Ironically, once you begin to reconcile that you will never leave, that is when you allow yourself to do so, if you so choose. Watching this film reminds me of such experiences, although Max Renn was far calmer than I.

The night of the screening I heard comparisons to ‘Jacob's Ladder’ being offered, which deals with similar themes and plot developments. However, what I think is a defining characteristic of Cronenberg and effective art in general is that there is open space left for the viewer. We are asked to actively pursue the world rather than being continually shown the world. In ‘Jacob's Ladder’ we often see the anguish that Jacob Singer is going through. In fact, much of the film is about the torment of Jacob's hallucinations and inability to find his way to comfort. Even though we are not aware why or how it is that he is experiencing these visions and world-warping realities, we are always given a full dose of Jacob's feeling about his situation. In ‘Videodrome,’ we are never really afforded the opportunity to view Max Renn as a victim necessarily or looking for comfort. He is in some ways still in control (or thinks he is) of his situation. For the viewer it is a subtle, but ultimately deeper identification with character. We are not identifying with Max empathetically, as is the case for Jacob in ‘Jacob's Ladder,’ but sympathetically. We are allowed to participate in the delusion, rather than watch the character react to participating in it. And ‘VIdoedrome’ is funny.

Great Pick.

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