Videodrome

Videodrome (1983)

  • 80% of critics liked it
    (44 reviews)

  • 79% of users liked it
    (37,875 ratings)

Hardcore pornography, sadomasochism, mind control, and living televisions all play crucial roles in Videodrome, one of director David Cronenberg's explorations of dangerous sexuality and technological obsession. The morally questionable hero of the tale is one Max Renn (James Woods), a television… More

R, 1 hr. 29 min.
Directed By
David Cronenberg
Written By
David Cronenberg
Genres
Science Fiction & Fantasy, Horror
In Theaters
Feb 4, 1983 Wide
On DVD
Sep 8, 1998

Critic Reviews

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    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.

  • Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

    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.

  • Janet Maslin, New York Times

    Though Videodrome finally grows grotesque and a little confused, it begins very well and sustains its cleverness for a long while.

  • Ian Berriman, SFX Magazine

    Simultaneously sleazy and cerebral, it's a film whose surrealist setpieces burn a brand on the brain.

  • Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

    ...an intriguing, deeply interesting film that over the course of almost three decades has acquired a prescient quality, but it's also schlock; a kind of cyberpunk rewrite of Network that indulges Cronenberg's taste for venereal horror.

Read all 15 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • KJ P


    "Videodrome" is undeniably original and it boasts from extremely impressive visuals for it's time, but it goes way over the top and becomes almost too disgusting to watch. Max Renn (James Woods) discovers a new show called Videodrome, which has been found to create… More

  • Dan S


    A well-paced, competently acted study on society's obsession with violence and sex on television, and what if catharsis was released on a more physical front, and the results that follow. David Cronenberg, the master of body horror, churns out another successful, memorable film,… More

  • John H


    I'm not usually into this kind of cinematic filth, but this was almost tolerable.

  • Graham J


    Videodrome is David Cronenberg's masterpiece. It features amazing special effects and great performances from James Woods and Debbie Harry.

  • Melvin W


    Max Renn: I'm looking for something that'll... break through. You know?  "First it controls your mind... then it destroys your body" Videodrome is quite the experience. After being less than impressed with the first two movies I saw from Cronenberg; I expected… More

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

Cast

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