Videodrome

In his original 1983 review of David Cronenberg's Videodrome, film critic Roger Ebert called it "one of the least entertaining films ever made," but that didn't stop it from becoming one of Cronenberg's most prescient and provocative films. In a story that perfectly embodies the director's trademark fascination with the fusion of flesh and technology, James Woods stars as the operator of a low-budget cable-TV station who accidentally intercepts a mysterious TV broadcast featuring the apparent torture and murder of women. Tracing the show to its source, Woods discovers a nefarious plot to broadcast subliminal signals into the homes of millions--masterminded by a quasi-religious character named Brian O'Blivion and his overly reverent daughter--and loses his grip on the distinction between reality and television along the way. A potent treatise on the effects of total immersion into our mass-media culture, Videodrome is also a showcase for obsessions manifested in the tangible world of the flesh, presenting a hallucinogenic psychodrama in which a television set seems to breathe with a life of its own, and where the body itself can become a VCR repository for disturbing imagery. Featuring bizarre makeup effects by Rick Baker and a daring performance by Deborah Harry (lead singer of Blondie), Videodrome is pure Cronenberg--unsettling, intelligent, and decidedly not for every taste. For this 2004 DVD release, the Criterion Collection has surpassed even their own high standards, compiling a veritable goldmine of materials related to the film, including audio commentaries (one by Cronenberg and director of photography Mark Irwin; the others by Woods and Harry) that rank among the finest ever recorded. A 1983 panel discussion with Cronenberg and fellow horror masters John Landis and John Carpenter is a bona-fide archival gem, and extensive behind-the-scenes footage reveals how Cronenberg and crew created mind-boggling effects on a very modest budget. Recommended. (J. Shannon)[Blu-ray Review—Dec. 21, 2010—Criterion, 89 min., R, $39.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1983's Videodrome features an excellent transfer. Blu-ray extras are identical to the previous DVD release, including two audio commentaries (the first with director David Cronenberg and cinematographer Mark Irwin; the second with costars James Woods and Deborah Harry), Michael Lennick's “Forging the New Flesh” featurette on the video and prosthetic makeup effects (28 min.), a “Fear on Film” 1982 roundtable discussion with Cronenberg and filmmakers John Carpenter, John Landis, and Mick Garris (26 min.), “Effects Men” audio interviews with Lennick and makeup effects creator Rick Baker (19 min.), “Bootleg Video” unedited footage (including the complete footage of Samurai Dreams) (17 min.), Cronenberg's 2000 short film “Camera” (7 min.), a vintage “making-of” featurette (7 min.), a stills and marketing gallery, trailers, and a booklet featuring essays by writers Carrie Rickey, Tim Lucas, and Gary Indiana. Bottom line: a fine extras package for this still-potent shocker.]