Videodrome (1983)

Description

Combining the bio-horror elements of his earlier films whilst anticipating the technological themes of his later work, Videodrome exemplifies Cronenberg’s extraordinary talent for making both visceral and cerebral cinema. Max Renn (James Woods) is looking for fresh new content for his TV channel when he happens across some illegal S&M-style broadcasts called ‘Videodrome’. Embroiling his girlfriend Nicki (Debbie Harry) in his search for the source, his journey begins to blur the lines between reality and fantasy as he works his way through sadomasochistic games, shady organisations and body transformations stunningly realised by the Oscar-winning makeup effects artist Rick Baker. Hailed by his contemporaries John Carpenter (“he’s better than all of us combined”) and Martin Scorsese (“no one makes films like he does”) as a genius, Videodrome, was Cronenberg’s most mature work to date and still stands as one of his greatest.