Videodrome is a visually mesmerizing, cryptic, and surreal film about the blurriness of cinematic limitations on the human senses and psyche. Following sleazy TV Channel 83 programmer Max Renn (James Woods) as he becomes enthralled by an underground TV show with the same name known for raw sexual violence of any kind, the film unfolds as he considers its value for its public release. Shortly after encountering it and showing it to his sexually crazed show business girlfriend, Nicki Brand (Deborah Harry), she auditions for the show and completely disappears. Renn investigates further to find her, only to fall into a rabbit hole of hallucinations and realizations caused by Videodrome. He learns that Videodrome’s violence is not staged and embarks on a psychologically torturous journey against his will about technological conspiracy theories and unrelenting sadomasochism. Through limitless visions of violence, sex, and tech, Renn rediscovers the world as a landscape of self-induced misery and destruction––one not worth living in.

Videodrome is creative in its visualized metaphors and technologically charged innuendos, tossing realism in favor of a trippy conversation about sex and screens. The narrative and characters are designed to initially seem more contemporary, drawing in watchers with a calmer analysis of the (adult) TV industry and the sleazebags who work in it. Woods as Renn isn’t convincing, but the world around him is built with enough visibly grayed conviction that his non-reactions don’t affect much, and other victims, such as Brand (Harry), only further intensify the film’s effective dystopian tone. When it fully unleashes its sensual palette––VHS tapes breathe, people on video or TV talk back, random holes appear in Renn’s chest––the film excels. Everything is intentional and intertwined, creating more enormous narrative ideas about how technology can enable and encourage sexually violent behaviors. It’s implicative of how, with each new technological advancement, a new layer of violent extremities is discovered and techniques applied. While the film is a bit jumpy even in its most bizarrely robust moments, it maintains a steady hand through its thematic explorations and a grim ending that reminds viewers about the evils of human-tech connectivity.

Screens on Fri, 1/5, 9:30pm and 1/6, 5:30pm & 10:00 pm @ Brattle Theatre
Director’s pre-MPAA cut
Part of the ongoing repertory series: Refreshed, Renewed, Restored