Editing Videodrome (section)

{{Short description|1983 film by David Cronenberg}}
{{Distinguish|Videodrone|Videodrone (album)|Videodrom}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Videodrome
| image          = Videodromeposter.jpg
| alt            =
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[David Cronenberg]]
| producer       = Claude Héroux
| writer         = David Cronenberg
| starring       = {{plainlist|
* [[James Woods]]
* [[Sonja Smits]]
* [[Debbie Harry|Deborah Harry]]
* [[Peter Dvorsky (actor)|Peter Dvorsky]]
* [[Leslie Carlson|Les Carlson]]
* [[Jack Creley]]
* Lynne Gorman
}}
<!-- per poster -->
| music          = [[Howard Shore]]
| cinematography = [[Mark Irwin]]
| editing        = [[Ronald Sanders (film editor)|Ronald Sanders]]
| studio         = {{plainlist|
* Filmplan International
* [[Canadian Film Development Corporation]]
* [[Famous Players]]
* Guardian Trust Company
}}
| distributor    = [[Universal Pictures]]
| released       = {{Film date|1983|02|04}}
| runtime        = 89 minutes<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/videodrome-film-qxnzzxq6vlgtnzeymdk5|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417223121/https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/videodrome-film-qxnzzxq6vlgtnzeymdk5|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 17, 2021|title=''Videodrome'' (18)|website=[[British Board of Film Classification]]|access-date=March 28, 2018}}</ref>
| country        = Canada
| language       = English
| budget         = [[Canadian dollar|CAD$]]5.952 million
| gross          = $2.1 million<ref name=numbers>{{cite web|url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Videodrome#tab=summary|title=Videodrome (1983) - Financial Informantion|website=[[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]]|access-date=March 28, 2018}}</ref>
}}
'''''Videodrome''''' is a 1983 Canadian [[Science fiction film|science fiction]] [[body horror]] film written and directed by [[David Cronenberg]] and starring [[James Woods]], [[Sonja Smits]], and [[Debbie Harry]]. Set in [[Toronto]] during the early 1980s, it follows the CEO of a small [[UHF]] television station who stumbles upon a broadcast signal of [[snuff films]]. Layers of deception and [[Brainwashing|mind-control]] conspiracy unfold as he attempts to uncover the signal's source, complicated by increasingly intense hallucinations that cause him to lose his grip on reality.

Distributed by [[Universal Pictures]], ''Videodrome'' was the first film by Cronenberg to gain backing from any major Hollywood studio. With the highest budget of any of his films at the time, the film was a [[box-office bomb]], recouping only $2.1 million from a $5.9 million budget. The film received praise for the special makeup effects, Cronenberg's direction, Woods and Harry's performances, its "techno-[[surrealist]]" aesthetic, and its cryptic, [[Psychosexual development|psychosexual]] themes.<ref name=technophobia>{{cite book | title=Technophobia!: science fiction visions of posthuman technology | first=Daniel | last=Dinello | publisher=University of Texas Press | year=2005 | isbn=0-292-70986-2 | page= 153}}</ref> Cronenberg won the [[Canadian Screen Award for Best Director|Best Direction]] award and was nominated for seven other awards at the [[5th Genie Awards]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/videodrome |title=Videodrome|encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]|access-date=September 1, 2019}}</ref>

Now considered a [[cult classic]], the film has been cited as one of Cronenberg's best, and a key example of the body horror and [[science fiction horror]] genres.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.criterion.com/films/240-videodrome|title=Videodrome|website=The Criterion Collection|language=en|access-date=June 19, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://deepfocusreview.com/definitives/videodrome/|title=Videodrome (1983) – Deep Focus Review – Movie Reviews, Critical Essays, and Film Analysis|website=Deep Focus Review|date=February 2011 |language=en-US|access-date=June 19, 2019}}</ref>
[[File:Videodrome (1983) - trailer.webm|thumb|The film's trailer]]