VIDEODROME (1983)
Director: David Cronenberg
UniversalOne way or another, Deborah Harry’s irresistible hotness was going to land her in a film role that offered more than just a minor part. Headhunted by David Cronenberg, the master of
Body-Horror (a genre of film that explores peoples fear of bodily transformation and infection), Blondie is cast alongside the reliably creepy James Woods in the mind-bending spectacle known as
Videodrome.Max Renn (Woods) is the President of CIVIC-TV, a sleazy two-bit cable station that transmits tasteless and immoral programs to titillate late night viewers. Max’s pirate satellite dish starts picking up clandestine transmissions from a macabre television show called
Videodrome; a plotless program set in a sinister orange room filled with sadistic torture and the eventual murder of what appears to be actual victims.
Blondie plays the role of Nicki Brand, Max’s lover, a kinky sado-masochist with a penchant for self-mutilation. Nicki becomes obsessed with auditioning for the show and disappears when she attempts to find out the location of Videodrome.
Nicki visits Max in a series of horrific hallucinations that begin to blur the razor-thin line between reality and nightmares.
Videodrome is an outright engrossing film to watch and is rife with clever special effects and revolutionary film making techniques that have since become synonymous with David Cronenberg’s unique and uncompromising style.
Turn on. Tune in and Freak out.
Death to Videodrome! Long live the new flesh!
- Review by Jordan Bloomer.TRAILER: