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Videodrome Special Edition DVD

About.com Rating 4.5

From Jurgen Fauth, for About.com

Videodrome DVD

The Bottom Line

David Cronenberg's 1983 reality TV shocker might still be his best film. Criterion gives it the definitive DVD release.
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Pros

  • Seminal horror film by one of the world's most unique filmmakers
  • Wicked social commentary
  • Deborah Harry in one of her first film roles

Cons

  • If you don't like weird and disturbing, you won't like this

Description

  • Canada, 1983. 89 minutes.
  • New digital transfer of the unrated version
  • Audio commentaries by David Cronenberg, Mark Erwin, James Woods, and Deborah Harry
  • "Camera," a short film written and directed by Cronenberg
  • "Forging the New Flesh," a half hour featurette about Videodrome's special effects
  • "Effects Men," a new audio interview with special makeup effects creator Rick Baker
  • Complete, unedited footage of transmissions seen in "Videodrome" with director commentary
  • A 26-minute roundtable discussion with Cronenberg, John Carpenter, John Landis, and Mick Garris
  • Trailers, promo featurette, stills galleries, production photos, makeup tests, publicity photos
  • A 40-page booklet with essays by Carrie Rickey, Tim Lucas, and Gary Indiana

Guide Review - Videodrome Special Edition DVD

Twenty years before "Fear Factor" and Abu Ghraib, the Canadian master of the surreal predicted our fascination with torture and pain, and cloaked it in a story that is still deeply disturbing: when sleazy cable TV exec Max Renn (James Woods) comes across transmissions of a hyperviolent show called Videodrome, he is sucked into a mysterious underworld where torture, rape, and murder serve as addictive entertainment. Soon, he is taking part is sado-masochistic sex games, hallucinating strange conspiracies, and experiencing shocking bodily transformations. What is the truth about Videodrome, and the elusive Dr. Brian O'Blivion?
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