Recently a friend gave me a copy of the movie Videodrome on DVD.
For those who don’t know about the flick. Here’s a trailer.
I have seen the movie on VHS and cable many times over the years which is a very valid way to see it given that the VHS tapes in the movie throb and live. It was always a weirdly fun sensation to take the tape in and out of the VCR after watching it. Cable felt appropriate too since Videodrome was going to be shown via cable.
So watching it on DVD felt a bit different.
First of all, I hadn’t seen it in many years.
How many times have I seen it?
Sorry, lost count.
I should mention that I’ve never seen it in a movie theatre or via streaming.
The sharpness of seeing it on a DVD really surprised me. My mind’s eye was just used to the old VHS grain and not the crisp image.
The movie still holds up to me, although I have sensed something in it that I didn’t feel before.
I now feel that the character Bianca, while not as bad as the people who turned Videodrome against her father, is still using Max and not the “good” character my analog hazy memory recalled.
In Videodrome there are no good people. There is just torture.
Supposedly there is philosophy.
To my mind no matter the philosophy, there is just torture
Death to Videodrome.
Long live the new flesh.
Yours in cult movies,
Count Robot
