upstill (02/07/83)
I would say Freeman's newswire review covers the movie pretty well, but I would add one thing to the Sneak Previews review: anything Jeffrey Lyons loathes can't be all bad. Steve
upstill (02/08/83)
Let's say that Videodrome is for those with very, um, special tastes. The plot concerns the operator of a small Toronto television station who is on the lookout for ever more titillating shows with which to pander to his audience. He gets more than he bargained for when his head pirate discovers a signal coming off of satellite of a show called Videodrome, which is nothing more or less than snuff TV: one room, two masked men and, usually, a woman to torture. Great idea, thinks our hero, maximum raunch on a minimal production budget. But upon further investigation he gets much more than he bargained for. Videodrome, the movie, is very strong stuff. It is "about" the relationship between the media and the audience, strongly (and explicitly) implying it is a hypnotic, sadomasochistic bond. How do you explicitly imply something? With very overt symbolism and imagery, which will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with David Cronenburg's films: the images here are as horrific as anything you've ever seen. I like Cronenburg a lot, but there are two major problems with this film: first, the theme of media criticism is usually highly obvious in the way it's presented, although there are a lot of ideas going into it. The other problem is that the world he creates (one of hallucination vs. reality) seems to have no real definition, no consistent rules: at first, the hero's hallucinations have no effect on others, and he is under the control of them. Later, he is controlling them and they DO affect the outside world. You might get the idea that this is a very ambitious horror film. That is the correct impression. I just wish it had been more successful.
kline (02/11/83)
#N:uicsovax:4000044:000:570 uicsovax!kline Feb 11 02:55:00 1983 (FROM THE U OF I CYBER 175): NOTE #15 VIDEODROME BY BECKER CRA UN=3KEQO4B ON 02/06 14:30 saw Videodrome the other night. kind of a letdown, but interesting still. was very proud of myself that i could sit through the entire thing and not make a run for the lavatory. takes a strong stomach for some of the scenes. Scanners was better. interesting premise, but just like Bladerunner, it let me down at the end. Debby Harry is cute, but the scene wherein she burns her titty with a cigarette had me squirming in my seat. be interested in what other people think. craig
rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen) (11/29/84)
> I think VIDEODROME should also be seen on TV since its so TV > oriented: the snuff tv station (24 hours of torture and sex > with no plot); the throbbing, pulsating tv set to which a guy > gives head to (he sticks his head into the tv screen which comes > out to engulf his head); the guy who > grows a slot in his stomach into which throbbing, pulsating > video cassettes are inserted; the guy who will only appear on > tv talk shows on a tv (that is, instead of him actually sitting > there in a chair, there is a tv set with him on it and the host > carries on a conversation with him). ... and what about that scene with James Wood seeing himself shoot himself on TV, followed by the "regurgitation" (gurgitation?) by the television set. Makes it all the weirder when YOU watch him shoot himself on YOUR television set... -- Oh, crumbs! Rich Rosen pyuxd!rlr