Videodrome
A sensation-seeking television executive is consumed by a pirate broadcast whose sexualized violence turns media consumption into grotesque bodily and psychological transformation.
Overview
A chilling exploration of the dark side of media and desire, where reality blurs with the grotesque.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Dense
- Violence
- Graphic
- visceral
- paranoid
- surreal
- late night horror
- cult film night
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as visually audacious, disorienting, and prescient in its critique of technology, entertainment, and politics, though its intensity and abstraction divide viewers.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Professor O'Blivion's theories and the Videodrome signal progressively destabilize Max's distinction between television and lived experience.
Max experiences grotesque changes involving his torso, brain, and television equipment as Videodrome takes hold.
Max's encounters with Videodrome, Nicki, and the O'Blivion network unfold through increasingly unstable visions.
The pirate signal and Barry Convex's operation connect sensational programming with manipulation and political power.
Films like Videodrome, and why
The Fly
Shares body horror, technological paranoia, surreal imagery, and anxiety about media transforming human identity.
Videodrome 2
Shares dystopian media criticism, psychological disorientation, and disturbing fusion of technology with the body.
eXistenZ
Shares techno-surrealism, paranoia, and unstable boundaries between physical reality and mediated experience.
Tetsuo: The Iron Man
Shares grimy urban science fiction, hallucination, conspiracy, and Cronenbergian body transformation.
Movie Details
- Director
- David Cronenberg
- Release Date
- 1983-02-04
- Runtime
- 88 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (2577)
Cast
- James Woods
- Debbie Harry
- Sonja Smits
- Peter Dvorsky
- Leslie Carlson
- Jack Creley
- Lynne Gorman
- Julie Khaner
- Reiner Schwarz
- David Bolt
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Videodrome about?
- A sensation-seeking television executive is consumed by a pirate broadcast whose sexualized violence turns media consumption into grotesque bodily and psychological transformation.
- What is Videodrome like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Videodrome as brisk, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as dense.
- Is Videodrome violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Videodrome as graphic.
- What did critics think of Videodrome?
- Critics broadly regard the film as visually audacious, disorienting, and prescient in its critique of technology, entertainment, and politics, though its intensity and abstraction divide viewers.
- Which films are like Videodrome?
- Films with a similar feel include The Fly, Videodrome 2, eXistenZ, and Tetsuo: The Iron Man.
- How long is Videodrome?
- Videodrome runs 88 minutes.
- Where can I watch Videodrome?
- In United States, Videodrome streams on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads.
