10 Most Mind-Bendingly Confusing Horror Movies
4. Videodrome
The Film
David Cronenberg’s 1983 sci-fi body horror stars James Woods as sleazy softcore cable TV programmer Max Renn who learns of a mysterious television show whose plotless plot revolves around graphic, violent snuff-like content and starts broadcasting the programme with the intent of appealing to a new audience craving hardcore content.
As Max discovers the show’s origins, he’s plunged into a nightmarish world where the line between fiction and reality and the human body and technology are blurred and is plagued by surreal hallucinations including a legendary scene in which he inserts a handgun into a gaping cavity that opens up in his abdomen.
What The Hell It Means
Influenced by the works of philosopher Marshall McLuhan (who also inspired the character Brian O’Blivion), Videodrome is about the potential horrors of mass media manipulation and the convergence of man and machine.
Its message (not to mention its Betamax prop tapes) may seem outdated and we might think we’re all a lot more woke about mass media shenanigans these days, but it’s arguable that in the age of even more omnipresent media Videodrome is more prescient than ever.