| | | Cronenberg's follow-up to the "Shivers" (aka "They Came from Within"), is another tale of a rampant disease that turns the victims into maniacs, with a story-line is fairly linear by Cronenberg standards and quite satifying. The frequent Cronenberg theme of libido finding expression in viruses/seizures/tumors/murders etc is wonderfully reinforced by the casting of gorgeous porn star Marilyn Chambers in the lead. She's surprising good in this non-sexual role - in fact, she may have been a better sexy mainstream actress than hardcore sex performer, since she seems far sexier in this movie than in some of her XXX features. There are some good scares and some memorable grotesque images (especially the frozen twisted corpse that was used in the film's poster). If you're a Cronenberg fan (which I definately am!) you will enjoy the heck out of this film. |
|
|
| |
| | | Effective early horror from mad-genius Croneneberg; his first film with name stars and arguably the best and most personal of the early films. Art Hindle (Black Christmas) stars as a man embroiled in a bitter custody struggle with his estranged wife (Samantha Eggar), who is undergoing therapy at psychiatrist Oliver Reed's controversial institute. Reed's treatment causes his patients to give form to their inner conflicts, and Eggar-whose psyche is at the boiling point from childhood abuse as well as the custody trial-creates a horde of homicidal humanoid children who enact bloody revenge on anyone who has threatened their "mother." Cronenberg has always excelled at using horror conventions as metaphors for much more horrific realities; in this case, emotional violence within the family. Widescreen anamorphic format. |
|
|
| |
| | | Do you want to understand the world around you? Not if you're smart! But if you're dumb like me this movie will answer lots of questions you'll wish you never asked. VIDEODROME has joined the ranks of things like Kurt Vonnegut's "Welcome to the Monkey House" and "Harrison Bergeron," and movies like NETWORK and BRAZIL that seemed wild flights of fancy when published, but now play like news reports and documentaries. Cronenberg's most paranoid film (which is like saying Shirley Temple's most sentimental film). So many haunting beautiful things. Dr. Brian O'Blivion, the genius who only exists on thousands of videotapes... Nikki (Deborah Harry from Blondie in her nudest role) the masochist Talk Show host who wants her breasts burned with cigarettes, and ends up living in James Woods' TV. the large vagina that grows in James Woods' stomach to provide a place to hide a gun, so he can become an assassin. and of course Viudeodrome itself, a sinister hypnotic satellite TV network that shows nothing but nude women chained to a mud wall being flogged against a soft clay wall. "Videodrome is dangerous. It has a philosophy" DVD FEATURES: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 . Region 1 . Available Audio: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono) . Available subtitles: Spanish, French, English (captions) |
|
|
| |
| | | Joins CARRIE and THE SHINING as artistically first-rate movies adapted from Steven King novels. This was Cronenberg's first 'mainstream' film and remains one of his most accessible. The quiet, intense and emotionally touching thriller is familiar today to our post-SIXTH SENSE, post-MEMENTO sensibilities, but this was groundbreaking stuff in 1983. Christopher Walken is Johnny, a man who's been in a coma for five years after an accident. He awakes into a changed world-his girlfriend (Brooke Adams) is now married, for one thing. As if things were not weird enough he finds that he can sense dire events in a person's future just by touching them. Learning that he can change the future as well, Johnny intervenes in a number of would-be tragedies and becomes somewhat famous, but he yearns for his former normal life. The strain of precognition makes him a bit shy about shaking hands, but at a political rally near his house a candidate for President (Martin Sheen, in a great over-the-top performance) does what politicians do best, and in that handshake Walken sees a horrific vision of Armageddon. What should he do? Full-screen and Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) formats . Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English . Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround - English . Mono - French |
|
|
| |
| | | This one-hour documentary program is a treat for Cronenberg fans. Articulate and highly thoughtful about his work and its dominant themes, Cronenberg is an engaging intellectual throughout an extensive interview, explaining how he'd been inspired by the New York underground scene of the 1950s (perhaps destined to be "an obscure novelist," he says) when an independent Canadian film titled "Winter Kept Us Warm" prompted him to pursue filmmaking. "The body is the first fact of human existence," the director observes, in reference to the fascination with flesh, mutation, and other bodily matters that recur throughout his films. Shivers and Scanners are given their due, including enjoyable interview clips with ex-porn star Marilyn Chambers and Michael Ironside (the latter providing a revealing anecdote about Cronenberg describing a bizarre dream). Cronenberg blames Paramount for botching the release of The Dead Zone, and discussion of Crash allows him to reveal his disdainful "strange relationship" with film critics, while Holly Hunter observes that Crash is an exercise in "exploring the moral code." An illuminating examination of a truly original director. |
|
|
| |
| | | Cronenberg's most impressive movie in YEARS. Really good. "A brilliant and powerful psychological thriller about a deeply disturbed boy, Spider, who 'sees' his father brutally murder his mother and replace her with a prostitute. Convinced they plan to murder him next, Spider hatches an insane plan, which he carries through to tragic effect. Years later, his delusional account of his past begins to unravel and Spider spirals into fresh madness. Starring: Academy AwardŽ Nominee Ralph Fiennes (Red Dragon,Schindler's List,The English Patient), Golden Globe Winner Miranda Richardson (Enchanted April, Damage), Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects, Enemy of the State), Golden Globe Winner Lynn Redgrave (Shine, Gods and Monsters)" Commentary by David Cronenberg . Theatrical trailer . "In the Beginning: How Spider Came to Be" featurette . "Weaving the Web: The Making of Spider" featurette . "Caught in Spider's Web: The Cast" featurette . Widescreen anamorphic format |
|
|
| |
