Wow, I don’t know what my problem was back in 2023 (just kidding, yes I do), but this movie is awesome!!! I’ve noticed recently that a lot of the movies I watched in 2023 (and 2022, to some extent) didn’t really stick in my brain. I remember that I watched them, and in many cases, I have a written review, but I couldn’t tell you a single thing that happens in the movie. Furthermore, I think my reviews for most things were a little harsh and that as a viewer, I was actually pretty grouchy and close-minded.

But in 2024, I started building out a really long movie watchlist across all sorts of genres and languages and years. I wanted to engage with art about all sorts of topics and push myself out of my comfort zone to experience other perspectives and other ideas apart from my own. I believe that cinema/film is the highest form of art that we’ve come up with as people because of how many other forms of art it includes and how many people it takes to pull it off! And so through film, I wanted to discover more of the world and expand my horizons.

All of this, of course, leads back to Videodrome. While still being mindful about the media I take in, I really did start to push myself in what I watched and not avoid or discount everything that made me uncomfortable. I watched all of Sex and the City. I rewatched Oldboy on purpose. I gave Hellraiser a shot. I experienced the soul-altering wonder and trauma of 2025’s Sirat with zero clue of what I was getting myself into. I went to tons of movies that I’d only read the 1-2 sentence synopsis of, ready to see whatever I was gonna see and spent lots of money at the local indie/art-house cinema. And after every single one of these experiences, whether I enjoyed the film or not, I was better off for it.

So, to push myself out of my comfort zone, and because I genuinely didn’t remember anything from my first viewing of Videodrome, I decided to watch it again. And wow, wow, wow, I am SO glad that I did!!!

My 2023 review of Videodrome was scathing, contemptuous, and completely unforgiving. I complained that there was too much sex, that the characters were awful, and that the gore and body horror were included just to provide shock value. I am here now to rebuke those claims. [Spoilers moving forward.]

Firstly, there isn’t even that much sex in the movie, and what is there is actually pretty tame. I would say it’s comparable to Secretary, actually. Secondly, Max isn’t a depraved, unlikable asshole like I’d previously interpreted him to be. He’s just a regular, morally grey dude doing his icky, morally grey job. (TBH it’s kind of giving Primetime.) As he’s exposed to/explores BDSM more and more, he’s really hesitant at first and has a hard time adjusting to the sadistic activities that his partner is asking him to engage in. Basically, he’s totally vanilla to begin with but is still willing to try new things outside of his comfort zone and see other perspectives about pleasure courtesy of madame Blondie. So he doesn’t start out as some sex and violence obsessed freak by any means.

Next, is the corruption of Videodrome. On my first watch, I misunderstood the context around Max seeking out material for his network. He didn’t know the snuff films he was watching were actually real; his interest in them and in putting them on the network is based on a belief that they are fake, but incredibly well-done. I guess I thought he knew they were real and was pretending he thought they were fake and wanted them broadcast anyway just for the edginess and shock value of it all. That he was just some sicko!

Furthermore, the body horror transformation that Max goes through is not his true form coming to light as I had previously claimed. It’s a pretty straightforward visualization of his mind being taken over by the Videodrome as it takes away his identity and changes him into something that the antagonists want him to be, a tool of violence that they can wield at will.

My only criticism of the film now is that I think they could have put more into the character arc of Max losing his morality. We see him killing people at the end, but it doesn’t hit as hard as I wanted it to. I think spending some time in the beginning defining his ethical beliefs, and making it really clear which lines he is unwilling to cross and what behavior he finds unacceptable would make it more impactful to see him violate those beliefs against his will.

The story is very interesting and I enjoy the way it unfolds. The lore opens up so many questions without feeling like it’s underexplained. Further praise: the gore!!!!!! The practical effects, the body horror, the makeup—it’s sensational! I love the surreal hallucination sequences. I love the stomach-hole and Chekov’s stomach-gun. I love the flesh TV, I love the gun hand, I love “open up for me, Max,” I love it all.

I apologize sincerely to Nerd, to everyone who worked on this film, and to myself for my previous review. I was wrong. I was so, so wrong.

Rating: 📀 I LOVE this movie.

Letterboxd: 4.5/5 ★

Content warnings: self-harm/self-mutilation, body horror, sexual content, BDSM, snuff films/implied sexual violence, violence, weird surreal nonsense