The R-Rated ’80s Horror Classic Being Kept Off Streaming

For anyone who’s never had the (dis)pleasure of watching (enduring) a David Cronenberg film, the director is pretty much known for two things: disturbing intimate encounters and weird mutations. Videodrome has both.

Remember that VCR I just mentioned? It’s actually a fleshy slit in the middle of James Woods’ abdomen that he suggestively sticks video tapes and guns in. Still with me?

Videodrome is a very gross movie. It’s also a very surreal film with themes that are hard to describe in concrete terms. Think David Lynch if Dale Cooper’s coffee mug was growing out of his hand.

At the film’s heart is the very concept of television or, more specifically, television broadcasts.

Max Renn (James Woods) is the president of a Canadian television station specializing in provocative programming. When Max is shown Videodrome—a broadcast featuring scantily clad women being tortured and killed—he becomes entranced. Declaring it the future of television, Max sets out to discover all he can about the mysterious broadcast.

Soon Max is drawn into the convoluted lore surrounding Videodrome and begins to have disturbing hallucinations. These hallucinations are accompanied by equally disturbing visuals. One of the freakiest scenes in the film involves Max’s television coming to life.

I don’t mean in a cute cartoonish “Hey y’all, I’m Mr. TV!” way where it grows arms and legs and stuff. No, Max’s television bulges and pulsates. It grows veins and broadcasts an extreme close-up of Debbie Harry’s lips.

When I tell you that something as innocent sounding as James Woods making out with a TV screen will permanently rewrite your brain chemistry, I’m not kidding. The sequence will stay with you forever—whether you want it to or not.

Some of what Videodrome is trying to do is obvious. Max being excited about finding a channel that broadcasts snuff films symbolizes just how desensitized people can become the more messed up stuff they’re exposed to. When regular adult videos stop doing it for you, you turn to torture. When that gets boring, you move on to murder.

And so on and so forth.

Cronenberg is certainly not the only artist to explore this line of thinking. While I personally don’t subscribe to the theory that watching horror movies or playing Grand Theft Auto will lead to real crimes, I get what he was trying to say.

Videodrome also explores the allure of screens and the constant stream of content that comes with them. I could easily see it being remade today with iPhones and tablets replacing Televisions.

Perhaps the weirdest thing about Videodrome is that it received a major theatrical release. If any movie screams art-house or midnight drive-in, it’s this one. Then-President of Universal Sid Sheinberg reportedly regretted giving the movie a wide release.

With a 900-screen rollout, the movie only managed to gross a paltry $2.1 million against a budget three times that size.

GFR SCORE

Let’s be honest, though, in 1983, word of mouth for the “stomach slit-VCR” movie wasn’t going to be very good. Heck, even today, there are people reading this going, “Nope. I can live the rest of my life not seeing that and still die fulfilled.”

For the rest of you sickos and gore-hounds I have bad news: Videodrome isn’t available to stream anywhere. Are you surprised? You can however rent/purchase the film digitally from a number of services, like Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, and Fandango At Home.

Of course, whether you want to is another matter entirely. For what it’s worth, I’d recommend giving it a watch if you think you can stomach it. Long live the new flesh!