Videodrome (1983)

How do we alienate our dwindling audience? Review a cult classic that makes everyone super uncomfortable and is never searched by more than 100 people a day on Google. Kicking off March Madness, a month full of movies where people devolve into psychosis, we review Videodrome: the 1983 flop by David Cronenberg (The Fly, Dead Ringers, Scanners). The film stars James Woods (Vampires, Hercules, The Virgin Suicides) as Max, a desensitized head of a TV channel, desperately seeking the next big sensation. He stumbles onto what he thinks is a pirated signal from Malaysia, where someone is being mock tortured: Videodrome. Max is enamored with the presentation, thrilled that it did away with those pesky distractions like story structure and character, opting instead for sheer violence. He later finds that the signal is real snuff footage... and it's coming from inside the house! No, it's actually coming from Pittsburgh. Max meets Nicki Brand, played by Debbie Harry (Tales from the Darkside, Mindhunter, Body Bags, Cop Land), aka Blondie, who is the radio host of the "Emotional Rescue Show." She has a penchant for masochism and introduces Max to a whole new type of violence. When she is exposed to Videodrome, she becomes obsessed to the point that she wants to be on the program. Max's investigation takes him to the Cathode Ray Mission. There, he seeks out Professor Brian O'blivion, the man who is allegedly behind the Videodrome transmission. There, Max meet's the good professor's daughter, Bianca, who suspects Max is an assassin. After essentially hoodwinking him into getting a hallucination-inducing brain tumor. Max thinks he develops a rash on his stomach, which looks eventually becomes a gaping V word hole! It becomes a nifty little pocket, where he stores video tapes and even a gun! When he eventually yanks the gun out, it fuses with his hand, essentially looking like if Clive Barker designed Mega Man. Using his handgun... get it? He kills his business partners, thus opening the gateway for the proprietors of the Videodrome signal to distribute their signal over the channel, infecting everyone watching. All of the special effects in the film were helmed by Academy Award winning Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London, Men in Black, The Wolfman). The body horror elements of this film are truly on par with Baker's earlier work with his infamous werewolf transformation. We talked about the innovative methods the team used, including retrofitting an electric keyboard into operating the technorganic television set. This week's "Hidden Track" is Timesnake with their song, Sky Dad. https://wizardunioncollective.bandcamp.com/album/timesnake If you ever have feedback or recommendations on future episodes, please let us know at [email protected]. You can always find us on our social media: Instagram, Twitter, Slasher App: @slasherspod Facebook: /slasherspod Reddit: u/slasherspod https://www.youtube.com/c/slasherspodcast Theme song is I wanna Die by Mini Meltdowns. https://open.spotify.com/artist/5ZAk6lUDsaJj8EAhrhzZnh ; https://minimeltdowns.bandcamp.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices