Poster from TMDB
Videodrome
Sign in to saveVideodrome is a 1983 Canadian science fiction body horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg and starring James Woods, Sonja Smits, and Debbie Harry. Set in Toronto during the early 1980s, it follows the CEO of a small UHF television station who stumbles upon a broadcast signal of snuff films. Layers of deception and mind-control conspiracy unfold as he attempts to uncover the signal's source, complicated by increasingly intense hallucinations that cause him to lose his grip on reality.
OverviewAI-generated
Videodrome is a 1983 science fiction horror film directed and written by David Cronenberg. The cast includes James Woods, Sonja Smits, Debbie Harry, and Leslie Carlson. Produced by Pierre David and Filmplan International, the movie was filmed in Toronto and set in the 1980s. Its main subjects include pornography, sex in film, the influence of mass media, and delusion.
The film has a runtime of 88 minutes and was distributed by Universal Pictures and Netflix. It was released on video on demand. The production involved director of photography Mark Irwin, editor Ronald Sanders, and composer Howard Shore. The budget was 5,952,000, with a capital cost of 6,000,000. The film originated in Canada and the United States and is in English.
Videodrome explores themes such as suicide, virtual reality, radio presenting, black markets, and insanity. Its tagline states, "First it controls your mind. Then it destroys your body." The work has been assessed using the Bechdel test. It holds a rating of 7.2 and a vote average of 7.251.
Synthesized by Vinony from 38 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, TMDb, IMDb. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Film · TMDB
7.2As the president of a trashy TV channel, Max Renn is desperate for new programming to attract viewers. When he happens upon "Videodrome," a TV show dedicated to gratuitous torture and punishment, Max sees a potential hit and broadcasts the show on his channel. However, after his girlfriend auditions for the show and never returns, Max investigates the truth behind Videodrome and discovers that the graphic violence may not be as fake as he thought.
Cast
- James Woods as Max Renn
- Debbie Harry as Nicki Brand
- Sonja Smits as Bianca O'Blivion
- Peter Dvorsky as Harlan
- Leslie Carlson as Barry Convex
- Jack Creley as Brian O'Blivion
Themes
- suicide
- virtual reality
- radio presenter
- black market
- insanity
- paranoia
- dystopia
- toronto, canada
- hallucination
- surreal
This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.
Key facts
- Film.name
- Videodrome
- Film.image
- Videodromeposter.jpg
- Film.caption
- Theatrical release poster
- Film.director
- David Cronenberg
- Film.producer
- Claude Héroux
- Film.writer
- David Cronenberg
- Film.music
- Howard Shore
- Film.cinematography
- Mark Irwin
- Film.editing
- Ronald Sanders
- Film.distributor
- Universal Pictures
- Film.runtime
- 89 minutes
- Film.country
- Canada
- Film.language
- English
- Film.budget
- CAD$5.9 million
- Film.gross
- $2.1 million
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- film
- Country of origin
- United States
- Original language
- English language
- Main subject
- reality
- Director
- David Cronenberg
- Screenwriter
- David Cronenberg
- Cast member
- Jayne Eastwood
- Composer
- Howard Shore
- Production company
- Telefilm Canada
- Cinematographer
- Mark Irwin
- Narrative location
- Toronto
- Filming location
- Toronto
- Duration
- 89
- FilmAffinity ID
- 741689
- Distribution format
- video on demand
- Image
- Videodrome trailer screenshot.jpg
Show 10 more facts
- publication date
- 1983-02-04
- film editor
- Ronald Sanders
- title
- Videodrome
- distributed by
- Universal Pictures
- capital cost
- 5900000
- set in period
- 1980s
- review score
- 7.2/10
- Commons category
- Videodrome
- box office
- 2120439
- executive producer
- Pierre David
Sources (11)
via Wikidata · CC0
~24 min read
Encyclopedic overview
18 sectionsContents
- Plot
- Cast
- Production
- Development
- Filming
- Effects
- Music
- Editing
- Themes
- Release
- Reception
- Awards
- Home media
- Novelization
- See also
- References
- Works cited
- External links
Videodrome is a 1983 Canadian science fiction body horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg and starring James Woods, Sonja Smits, and Debbie Harry. Set in Toronto during the early 1980s, it follows the CEO of a small UHF television station who stumbles upon a broadcast signal of snuff films. Layers of deception and mind-control conspiracy unfold as he attempts to uncover the signal's source, complicated by increasingly intense hallucinations that cause him to lose his grip on reality.
Distributed by Universal Pictures, Videodrome was the first film by Cronenberg to gain backing from any major Hollywood studio. With the highest budget of any of his films at the time, the film was a box-office bomb, recouping only $2.1 million from a $5.9 million budget. The film received praise for the special makeup effects, Cronenberg's direction, Woods and Harry's performances, its "techno-surrealist" aesthetic, and its cryptic, psychosexual themes. Cronenberg won the Best Direction award and was nominated for seven other awards at the 5th Genie Awards.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Videodrome” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.