Videodrome (1983)

NEUTRAL

Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, In-Theaters

79%

1983, Horror, 1h 30m

RT Critics’ Score: 78% (UNBIASED)
RT Audience Score: 80%
Awards & Nominations: 3 wins & 7 nominations

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Critics Consensus

Visually audacious, disorienting, and just plain weird, Videodrome’s musings on technology, entertainment, and politics still feel fresh today

Audience Consensus

Videodrome is a wild ride that will leave you questioning your relationship with technology and media. While some critics found it pretentious and confusing, others praised its stunning visual effects and audacious attempt to bring personal images to a popular audience. Personally, I found it simultaneously creepy and fascinating, like a car crash you can’t look away from. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart, but if you’re up for a mind-bending horror flick, give Videodrome a try. Just don’t blame me if you start seeing strange things on your TV screen afterwards.

Storyline

Max Renn is the President of Channel 83 Civic-TV, a small television station on the UHF dial. He defends his programming of largely X-rated shows – which depict graphic sex and extreme violence – as a pure matter of economic survival as a small station. Behind closed doors in specific company, he would admit that he enjoys such programming, but as President will stay away from associated activities that may be dangerous for him in its purchase. His current girlfriend, radio personality Nicki Brand, who he met on a television talk show, is sexually aroused by light mutilation on her person, that despite or because her radio show is like an open air crisis hotline. On that same talk show, the other guest via video feed was Professor Brian O’Blivion – solely his stage name – who believes that television and video broadcasts will one day overtake the world as reality, which may make Max’s programming in combination more dangerous. In Max’s search for the next big thing in like programming already on Channel 83, Harlan, his pirater who scans satellite signals, illegally obtains a satellite feed of something called Videodrome, which depicts continual sexualized torture and murder with no storyline of which to speak. The background behind Videodrome is unknown, but believing it is that big thing for which he is looking, Max is determined to find the producers so that he can purchase it for his station. He is concerned for Nicki if she goes ahead against his warnings in wanting to appear on Videodrome, however it does not lessen his desire to purchase it. If Max in turn does not heed the warning of Masha, one of his long time show suppliers, based on what little she discovers about it, Max may discover that Videodrome is just the next but destructive step in O’Blivion’s prognostication.

Production Company(ies)
Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment

Distributor
Criterion Collection, Universal Pictures

Release Type
Theatrical

Filming Location(s)
6 Wellington Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

MPAA / Certificate
R

Year of Release
1983

Technical Specs

Color:

Color
Sound mix:

Mono
Aspect ratio:

1.85 : 1
Runtime:

1h 30m
Language(s):

English, Spanish, Japanese, French, Italian
Country of origin:

United States
Release date:

Release Date (Theaters): Jan 28, 1983 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 31, 2004

Genre(s)
Horror

Keyword(s)
starring James Woods, Deborah Harry, Sonja Smits, Peter Dvorsky, Leslie Carlson, Jack Creley, directed by David Cronenberg, written by David Cronenberg, horror, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Gary Arnold, Variety Staff, Dave Kehr, Chris Peachment, Janet Maslin, Michael Thomson, Brian Eggert, David Nusair, Sergio Benítez, Asher Luberto, C.H Newell, Sean Fennessey, produced by Claude Héroux, R rating, technology, entertainment, politics, trashy TV channel, new programming, viewers, Videodrome, TV show, gratuitous torture, punishment, potential hit, girlfriend, audition, truth, graphic violence, fake, president, audience, visual effects, deep-web, YouTube, screen addiction, media, brain tumors, explicit/graphic entertainment

Box Office Details

Worldwide gross: $2,120,439
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $6,488,454
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,096
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 707,574

US/Canada gross: $2,120,439
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $6,488,454
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,733
US/Canada opening weekend: $1,194,175
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $3,654,125
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,143

Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $5,952,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $18,212,868
Production budget ranking: 1,414
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $9,807,630
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$21,532,044
ROI to date (est.): -77%
ROI ranking: 1,858

Cast & Crew

James Woods

Deborah Harry

Sonja Smits

Peter Dvorsky

Leslie Carlson

Max Renn

Nicki Brand

Bianca O’Blivion

Harlan

Barry Convex

James Woods – Max Renn
Deborah Harry – Nicki Brand
Sonja Smits – Bianca O’Blivion
Peter Dvorsky – Harlan
Leslie Carlson – Barry Convex
Jack Creley – Brian O’Blivion

David Cronenberg

Claude Héroux

Director

Writer

Producer

Director(s)
David Cronenberg

Writer(s)
David Cronenberg

Producer(s)
Claude Héroux

Film Festivals

Awards & Nominations
3 wins & 7 nominations

Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Gary Arnold

Variety Staff

Dave Kehr

Chris Peachment

Janet Maslin

Washington Post

Variety

Chicago Reader

Time Out

New York Times

VIDEODROME
All Critics (52) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (41) | Rotten (11)
Simultaneously stupefying and boring, Videodrome is too extreme a blunder to survive exposure to a justifiably disillusioned horror-movie public.

August 4, 2015

Gary Arnold
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
Film is dotted with video jargon and ideology which proves more fascinating than distancing. And Cronenberg amplifies the freaky situation with a series of stunning visual effects.

June 6, 2007

Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Never coherent and frequently pretentious, the film remains an audacious attempt to place obsessive personal images before a popular audience — a kind of Kenneth Anger version of Star Wars.

June 6, 2007

Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
There are distinct signs of strain in the plot convolutions, not least in the spectator’s loss of faith over indiscriminate and cheating use of hallucination; what certainly survives is Cronenberg’s wholesale disgust with the world in general.

January 26, 2006

Chris Peachment
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Though Videodrome finally grows grotesque and a little confused, it begins very well and sustains its cleverness for a long while.

August 30, 2004 | Rating: 3.5/5

Janet Maslin
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
On a line starting with quality and ending with incompetence.

April 17, 2001 | Rating: 2/5

Michael Thomson
BBC.com
TOP CRITIC
Films like this rouse powerful reactions to their extreme metaphors and violent imagery; but then, there has never been a film quite like this one.

March 18, 2022 | Rating: 4/4

Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
…a decidedly oddball premise that’s employed to initially intriguing yet ultimately interminable effect…

December 18, 2020 | Rating: 2/4

David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
Everything in ‘Videodrome’ calls for the viewer seduced by the film’s proposal to irretrievably surrender to its overwhelming visual personality. [Full Review in Spanish]

April 24, 2020

Sergio Benítez
Espinof
“Videodrome” is a radical look at the deep-web, YouTube, screen addiction and the increasingly violent state of movies at a time when such subjects weren’t up for cultural debate.

June 11, 2019

Asher Luberto
culturevulture.net
Videodrome shows us a world of our making should we continue a dangerous relationship with media, its various mediums, the images it puts into our brains.

May 6, 2019 | Rating: 5/5

C.H. Newell
Father Son Holy Gore
It’s hard to overstate how premonitory David Cronenberg’s masterpiece turned out to be.

March 4, 2019

Sean Fennessey
The Ringer…

Plot
Max Renn is the President of Channel 83 Civic-TV, a small television station on the UHF dial. He defends his programming of largely X-rated shows – which depict graphic sex and extreme violence – as a pure matter of economic survival as a small station. Behind closed doors in specific company, he would admit that he enjoys such programming, but as President will stay away from associated activities that may be dangerous for him in its purchase. His current girlfriend, radio personality Nicki Brand, who he met on a television talk show, is sexually aroused by light mutilation on her person, that despite or because her radio show is like an open air crisis hotline. On that same talk show, the other guest via video feed was Professor Brian O’Blivion – solely his stage name – who believes that television and video broadcasts will one day overtake the world as reality, which may make Max’s programming in combination more dangerous. In Max’s search for the next big thing in like programming already on Channel 83, Harlan, his pirater who scans satellite signals, illegally obtains a satellite feed of something called Videodrome, which depicts continual sexualized torture and murder with no storyline of which to speak. The background behind Videodrome is unknown, but believing it is that big thing for which he is looking, Max is determined to find the producers so that he can purchase it for his station. He is concerned for Nicki if she goes ahead against his warnings in wanting to appear on Videodrome, however it does not lessen his desire to purchase it. If Max in turn does not heed the warning of Masha, one of his long time show suppliers, based on what little she discovers about it, Max may discover that Videodrome is just the next but destructive step in O’Blivion’s prognostication.

Trivia