Rating: 
Summary: Cronenberg's new flesh
Review: After the disappointing misstep of Scanners, one would have been hard pressed to predict that David Cronenberg would rebound with the quantumn leap of filmmaking that is Videodrome. After more than 20 years it is still one of the most daring and original sci-fi thrillers ever made. A dark, kinky, complex nightmare of paranoia and mind control. Cronenberg strikes a perfect balance between sensuality and depravity, hallucinations and reality, ideas and imagery. James Woods is perfectly cast as the oily Max Renn, Debbie Harry brings a vacant sexuality to Nikki Brand and the effects, while somewhat dated, are still quite distrubing. As you watch this film - and it is one that truly benefits from multiple viewings - you will actually see the moment where a filmmaker hits his stride, and it's a wonder to behold. This is the definitive Cronenberg movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding Horror
Review: TV will rot your brain, some say- and in the world of Videodrome, that's exactly what happens. A group working with a media philosopher (a nice parody of Marshall McCluhan) has created a signal that can be superimposed on a video program that will, quite literally, mutate the brain. It may be a tumor- or it may be a new organ. It's infected cable TV president Max Venn (James Woods), and is starting to change him and his world in bizarre ways.Videodrome is a wonderfully original movie that mixes a well crafted script with some novel (for the time) special effects and a marvelous darkly comic sensibility. Puns abound; the president of "Spectacular Optics"- itself a pun- is named Convex. Brian Oblivion (the Marshall McCluhan parody) founded the "Cathode Ray Mission" (as in "cathode ray emission"), where the homeless and destitute are re-integrated into society by providing them with exposure to television. Underneath this is a dark, sexual theme- Max's attraction to the images of bondage and sadism that are his undoing, and to radio psychologist Nikki (Debbie Harry, in a compelling if inartful performance) who is willing to go a lot farther than is Max in her pursuit of kinky thrills. Is Max really being physically transformed, or is it all in his head? Is the New Flesh real, or another delusion? All in all, a compelling and original film that will delight any fan of cult films and erotic horror.
Rating:
Summary: Beware reality T.V!
Review: 'Videodrome' was a movie way ahead of its time. It flopped on its release in 1982, but the the themes it deals with are more pertinent now than they've ever been. James Woods plays David Cronenberg's alter-ego Max Renn, a character who eventually becomes more and more in thrall to the sinister messages that come from his T.V. and induce LSD-like hallucinations. A Marshall McLuhan type character by the name of Brian O'Blivion spouts off his media theory from a homeless shelter called 'The Cathode-Ray Mission' (emission). His belief is that television is reality and real communication is impossible which is why he favours appearing on television using the monologue as that is the only way people will listen to him. His office in the mission however is filled with spiritual statues and symbols that somehow seem to reflect a longing to escape from the cathode ray's grip. As always in Cronenberg's pictures, the body and the flesh start to rebel against the brain. Cronenberg has always been fascinated by the body's ability to slip away from the conscious control of the mind and revolt like colonies taking over their mother country. In 'Videodrome' Max's mind falls into greater and greater subservience to his physical drives until his flesh becomes one with the T.V. technology, creating 'the new flesh'. Some minor asides in the film proved to be quite prophetic for the future to come. Max states how the production costs for most of his shows are non-existant, a foretaste of the reality shows that now prevade our screens. There's even a hint of virtual reality when Max tries on his hallucinagenic helmet.
Rating:
Summary: They use her image to seduce us...
Review: A cult favorite since its release in '83, VIDEODROME is in some ways a "great flawed film." The characters are far from sympathetic, the plot is often confusing and contradictory, and some of the dialogue is unintentionally hilarious. Yet on the level of images and ideas, VIDEODROME is a rich, compelling experience which will take root in your brain long after the film is over. James Woods turns in a terrific performance as Max Renn, sleazoid co-owner of a quickie TV station. For reasons which never become clear, Renn is chosen as the gateway for public transmission of the "Videodrome" TV signal, which hypnotizes its viewers and causes mind-altering hallucinations. Renn, always on the lookout for the ultimate trash with which to hook his slavish, sensation-seeking audience, is introduced to "Videodrome," a charming bit of snuff TV where men in masks torture women and a black man for no real reason at all, except for cheap thrills. Renn, correctly assuming that sex and violence sell to the masses, tries to discover the human face behind Videodrome. Along the way, he stumbles onto what seems to be a conspiracy to control the mind of the North American audience through TV (hmmm...hasn't this happened by now?), seemingly to create an audience of docile, consumeristic sheep. After a rather shocking sequence of events, Renn becomes one of the "New Flesh," apparently a race of humans who have evolved away from the body to exist entirely in the electronic realm (hmmm...isn't this happening right now?) and are trying to destroy Videodrome. His companion in this journey is masochistic Nicki Brand, played by Deborah Harry at her most glamorous. Nicki, turned onto Videodrome by Max, abandons her life as a "radio personality" and seems to become an entirely image-based being, first used by Videodrome to seduce Max, then somehow escaping and joining the "New Flesh." I know none of this makes much sense, but VIDEODROME has to be seen to be believed. Cronenberg's imagery, realized by FX genius Rick Baker, is incredibly sensual and powerful, using all the resources of the cinema to suggest multiple levels of reality and hallucination. I won't spoil the surprises for you by describing the effects here; let's just say that Cronenberg combines sex, violence, electronics and body/machine anxieties in a new and compelling way. Harry's incredible charisma and style lend the role of Nicki just the right touch of simultaneous allure and wierdness (she is first introduced as an image on a TV screen, and actually spends most of her time in the film in scenes where she is clearly a hyperreal hallucination instead of a person. She and Woods have a very believable chemistry and should have had more scenes together - the script for this film needed a few more drafts. I first saw this movie as a teen-ager, back before the Internet, virtual reality or cybersex existed, and developments in audio-visual technologies since then have only underscored the seriousness and ambition of Cronenberg's vision. Where do we end and our electronic prostheses begin? Is electronic experience more real than real? Is the television screen now truly "the retina of the mind's eye?" I think so. VIDEODROME will make you think of your own environment in a new way. Great late-night viewing!
Rating: 
Summary: The shape of things to come
Review: Impossible to forget, yet deeply flawed as a cohesive film (unlike "Clockwork Orange"), Videodrome stays with us and may someday assume a kind of "classic" stature. James Woods can make the best of any script, Deborah Harry didn't embarrass herself, and we can take comfort in the fact that Rick Baker's visual effects will improve considerably from these "rough" forms seen in the movie (yuk). Videodrome was prophetic in that it forecast the availability of the really creepy stuff you can now find on the internet, and brings up the old hair-raising argument of whether or not "snuff" films really exist and why they fascinate us so.
Rating:
Summary: Should be considered a classic
Review: If any film deserves to be called a modern classic, it is definitely Videodrome. This is an incredibly disturbing and dark tale about sex & violence on television. James Woods stars as Max Renn, head of the upstart cable station Civic TV, whose main draw is outrageous softcore pornography and extremely graffic violence. Renn intercepts a show called Videodrome which is nothing but hardcore violence for a half hour and becomes instantly mesmerized by its content. He soon discovers things about the show that should not be told or discussed to anyone until they see the film for themselves. The cast is brilliant, and Cronerberg seems to get his normal sleepy performances from everyone involved, including Woods and Deborah Harry, lead singer of 80's band Blondie. The only thing that will deter people from seeing this film is the amount of highly disturbing imagery and disgusting gore effects by makeup whiz Rick Baker. This is an abosolutely outstanding film that touches on a subject that is still hush hush in today's soceity. This is not a movie only for film buffs. It is a movie for everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Wait for the Criterion DVD this August!
Review: From Fangoria:
• Audio commentary by Cronenberg and cinematographer Mark Irwin
• Audio commentary by stars James Woods and Deborah Harry
• Cronenberg's short film Camera, created for the Toronto Film Festival in 2000 and starring VIDEODROME's Les Carlson
• A new 30-minute documentary by VIDEODROME video FX artist Michael Lennick about the movie's landmark makeup and special FX
• Fear on Film, a half-hour roundtable discussion from 1982 between Cronenberg, John Carpenter and John Landis (all of whom were working on Universal horror films at the time), hosted by director-to-be Mick Garris
• Short promotional featurette from 1982, also created by Garris
• Trailers
• Extensive galleries with makeup test shots, behind-the-scenes photos, publicity stills, marketing materials, etc.
• Samurai Dreams-the fake Japanese soft-porn film seen in the movie, presented in its entirety
• And more!
Rating:
Summary: The shape of things to come
Review: Impossible to forget, yet deeply flawed as a cohesive film (unlike "Clockwork Orange"), Videodrome stays with us and may someday assume a kind of "classic" stature. James Woods can make the best of any script, Deborah Harry didn't embarrass herself, and we can take comfort in the fact that Rick Baker's visual effects will improve considerably from these "rough" forms seen in the movie (yuk). Videodrome was prophetic in that it forecast the availability of the really creepy stuff you can now find on the internet, and brings up the old hair-raising argument of whether or not "snuff" films really exist and why they fascinate us so.
Rating:
Summary: Long live the new flesh!
Review: Max Renn (James Woods) runs a cable station that specializes in showing what most stations wouldn't, soft core, hardcore, ... etc. In the competitive market of cable programming, he fills a niche, and makes a profit. He justifies what he shows as an act of social consciousness, believing he's providing an outlet for people to get what they want, instead of going out in the streets and finding it themselves. He's looking for the next big thing, and he thinks he's found it in a program called Videodrome. Videodrome, appearing simplistic at first, shows scenes of graphic torture and murder. After further investigation, questions come up about the reality of the scenes portrayed, and this leads to the tip of a conspiracy and the real secret behind Videodrome. Deborah Harry plays a radio talk show host Nikki Brand. Nikki and Max meet on a television panel show, and Max pursues a relationship with her. While together, Max learns of Nikki's preference towards S&M, and, while watching a pirate copy of Videodrome, Nikki decides she wants to take a more participatory role in the program rather than just viewing it. Nikki disappears, and the lines of reality begin to blur, Max is deluged with hallucinations, ranging from his television set coming alive, a gaping maw opening in his stomach, to a gun that integrates itself into his hand. The weirdness spills forth, as Max tries to keep his tenuous grip on reality. While some may be put off initially by this movie and it's confusing themes, it really does merit repeated viewing. It's definitely a puzzle, and all the pieces are there, it's just a matter of putting it together. There is a fair bit of gore and surreal imagery, including the extra bit when Covex shows his 'new flesh' after a dramatic encounter with Renn. I don't think this scene was in the VHS version. I didn't really go into many details of this movie, as I would rather someone watch without a lot of preconceptions, and come to their own conclusions. Thought is required, so bring your brain...long live the new flesh!
Rating: 
Summary: WIERD, WIERd, WIErd, WIerd, Wierd, wierd.............
Review: Confusing, silly and boring at times. Not that good.
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