Viewed – 22 August 2015  Blu-ray

Collector’s Edition

David Cronenberg has easily cemented himself as one of the most challenging and daring directors to have ever gained mainstream popularity.  Perhaps still most famous for the Jeff Goldblum remake of The Fly, this Canadian born visionary film maker has for me, made some of the most powerfully bold and disturbing interpretations of horror I have seen.  This 1982 effort saw him break out from obscure fair like The Brood and Shivers and finally deliver his own distinct voice.

Starring James Woods and Deborah Harry (of Blondie) this follows the story of Max Ren, a sleazy cable TV executive on the look out for new material for his network.  One day he stumbles upon Videodrome, a broadcast that appears to be purely torture and violence – the exact kind of material he thinks his viewers will want.  Only thing is, Videodrome comes with a deadly signal that causes horrific and freakish hallucinations in anyone who watches it.

Despite a meagre budget and fairly basic production values, Cronenberg lavishes the whole movie in a visual style that presents television as a strange new villain in a way that the internet could be perceived the same today.  This movie was ahead of it’s time in it’s themes of living through another medium, and even one character refers to us all having different names that we’ll one day take on, sort of like avatars in a chat room.  It’s very cleverly observed.  Cronenberg tried to lesser extent to bring such ideas into the modern age in his sort-of sequel Existenz which explored videogames instead of television, but it’s here that his concept is at it’s boldest.  Deborah Harry is provocative, sexy and daring, not afraid to shed some clothing and portray herself as a self-harming adrenalin junkie, and Woods is perfect as the guy who takes a bite out of the forbidden fruit.  Acting isn’t exactly stellar though and supporting cast are amateurish at best.  It also get’s a little lost in it’s own hallucinatory world towards the end.  But with still impressive make-up work from An American Werewolf In London’s Rick Baker (bar the dodgy gun-hand-thing) and some creative gore along with a few ingenious effects (the breathing TV) – this still had the power to shock and creep this viewer out, even all these year’s later.

This Arrow Video release comes in a limited edition collector’s packaging that has a detailed hardback book exploring the film and Cronenberg’s career with fresh interviews and archival text.  The movie has always been in great shape and the same can be said here in a very vivid and clear image with equally crisp sound even if it’s only in mono.  Arrow, swiftly becoming my go-to company for great treatment of genre classics, has once again pulled no punches with this release and the extras are simply exhaustive.  A commentary by critic Tim Lucas, a number of detailed featurettes and documentaries, behind the scenes footage, a deleted scene and in this limited edition set a few of the director’s early short films.  In a word: impressive.

Verdict:

(the movie)  4 /5

(the Blu-ray)  5 /5