Quartile rating: 7/10 · 3 ratings
As the president of a trashy TV channel, Max Renn is desperate for new programming to attract viewers. When he happens upon "Videodrome," a TV show dedicated to gratuitous torture and punishment, Max sees a potential hit and broadcasts the show on his channel. However, after his girlfriend auditions for the show and never returns, Max investigates the truth behind Videodrome and discovers that the graphic violence may not be as fake as he thought.
Videodrome is one of Cronenberg's most singular works — a densely layered meditation on media, flesh, and technology that remains genuinely ahead of its time. The plot is inventively disturbing and philosophically rich, blending body horror with McLuhan-esque media theory in ways that still feel fresh. The cinematography and practical effects are exceptional, with Cronenberg and cinematographer Mark Irwin crafting images (the pulsating TV, the fleshy VHS slot) that are unmistakably iconic. Novelty is sky-high — there is simply nothing else quite like it. Acting is solid, with James Woods delivering a committed and increasingly unhinged performance, though the supporting cast is thinner. The ending, while deliberately disorienting and thematically resonant, is somewhat abrupt and leaves some narrative threads unresolved in a way that feels incomplete rather than purposefully ambiguous for some viewers, keeping it from the top tier.