The president of Civic TV Channel 83, Max Renn, is always looking for new cheap and erotic movies for his station. When his employee, Harlan, decodes a pirate video broadcast showing torture, murder, and mutilation called “Videodrome,” Max becomes obsessed to get this series for his channel. He contacts his supplier, Masha, and asks her to find the party responsible for the transmission. A couple of days later, Masha tells that “Videodrome” is real snuff movies. Max’s sado-masochistic girlfriend Nicki Brand decides to travel to Pittsburgh, where the show is based, to audition. Max investigates further, and through a video by the media prophet Brian O’Blivion, he learns that that TV screens are the retina of the mind’s eye, being part of the brain, and “Videodrome” transmissions create a brain tumor in the viewer, changing the reality through video hallucination.

Videodrome (1983)
  • Rating: (28,577 votes)
  • Taglines:First it controlled her mind, then it destroyed her body... Long live the new flesh! » First it controls your mind...then it destroys your body »
  • Runtime:87 minutes
  • Director: David Cronenberg
  • Country:Canada
  • Actors:
    Max Renn
    James Woods
    Bianca O'Blivion
    Sonja Smits
    Nicki Brand
    Deborah Harry
    Harlan
    Peter Dvorsky
    Barry Convex (as Les Carlson)
    Leslie Carlson
    Brian O'Blivion
    Jack Creley
    Masha
    Lynne Gorman
    Bridey
    Julie Khaner
    Moses
    Reiner Schwartz
    Raphael
    David Bolt
  • Genres:Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
  • Producers:
    Pierre David
    executive producer  
    Claude Héroux
    producer  
    Lawrence Nesis
    associate producer  
    Victor Solnicki
    executive producer  
  • Plots: Max Renn runs a TV channel, and when looking for new material to show--he discovers "Videodrome." His girlfriend, Nicki Brand, goes to audition for the show, and Max gets drawn into the underlying plot that uses the show as its front for a global conspiracy. Written by Paul Reynolds <pauljr@innotts.co.uk>
Videodrome
  • User's comment:"Network" + "Brazil" + "Clockwork Orange" = "Videodrome"? by culwin

    Wow! My favorite actor and my favorite singer in the same movie! Deborah Harry (of Blondie fame) gives a great non-blonde performance as an "emotionally energized" radio show host, and James Woods is a scummy business-minded owner of a seedy TV station.

    Like "Brazil" or "Twelve Monkeys" this movie will make you think, and even though there isn't really much violence or horror, your mind will fill in the parts that aren't there. The ability of a movie to do this makes it a must-see alone. You constantly ask yourself "is this real?" just as the main character is asking the same thing.

    One thing about this movie is that they never really answer a lot of things. As we watch the main character go in and out of reality, the audience is never quite sure what is really happening either. They never tell us. They never truly explain who is behind Videodrome, or even what happens to James Woods. If you didn't like the ending of Network or Twelve Monkeys, then you won't like the lack of explanation here either.

    Lots of underlying messages here too, involving television, pornography, and technology - all of which are more significant today than in 1983. Note common themes such as the head in a box. Excellently made film, the only thing that would have made it better is more story.


  • Quotes: Brian O'Blivion: The battle for the mind of North America will be fought in the video arena: the Videodrome. The television screen is the retina of the mind's eye. Therefore, the television screen is part of the physical structure of the brain. Therefore, whatever appears on the television screen emerges as raw experience for those who watch it. Therefore, television is reality, and reality is less than television. Barry Convex: You'll forgive me if I don't stay around to watch. I just can't cope with the freaky stuff. Max Renn: I'm looking for something that'll... break through. You know?
  • Also known as: Videodrome (Austria), Videodrome (Denmark - imdb display title), Videodrome (Greece - video title), Videodrome (Hungary - imdb display title), Videodrome (Japan - English title), Videodrome (Spain - imdb display title), Videodrome (Turkey - DVD title, Turkish title), Videodrome (West Germany), Cuerpos invadidos (Argentina), Cuerpos invadidos (Mexico - imdb display title), Cuerpos invadidos (Peru - imdb display title), Vidéodrome (Canada - French title), Vidéodrome (France), Experiência Alucinante (Portugal), Network of Blood (Canada - working title, English title), Videodrom (Serbia), Videodrome - förgängelsens vapen (Finland - Swedish title), Videodrome - tuhon ase (Finland), Wideodrom (Poland - imdb display title), Zonekiller (Canada - working title, English title),

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