FILM : Cronenberg’s ‘Videodrome’ Is Up to Snuff

“Videodrome,” David Cronenberg’s horror flick swathed in soft porn and satire, is a bizarre subversion of Marshall McLuhan’s most optimistic theories about television’s potential.

McLuhan believed that TV, by reflecting human nature and through its long reach, could become a global consciousness for everyone to share. Cronenberg’s 1983 movie, which screens Friday as the part of UC Irvine’s “Early Films by Acclaimed Directors” series, won’t have any of that. TV is really an invasive force that can control the mind and, through a little Cronenbergian black magic, distort the body as well.

In “Videodrome,” we meet Max Renn (James Woods), the manager of a TV station specializing in low-key pornography and graphic violence. He’s a guy on the move, always looking for fresh angles, who’s running out of ideas. Then he learns about a mysterious show called Videodrome that spotlights sado-masochism and “snuff” films. Not sure if it’s the real thing or just staged, Max wants it for his programming.

That begins an odyssey that puts him in contact with Nicki Brand (Deborah Harry), a kinky psychologist with a taste for Videodrome’s forbidden pleasures, and a lot of Videodrome watching. We find out later that the transmissions generate hallucinations and, eventually, cause viewers to sprout brain tumors. These are not good things; they lead to all sorts of creepy stuff.

Poor Max, who gets his very own tumor, keeps sinking deeper into the Videodrome sensations. Through Rick Baker’s over-the-top special effects, Woods turns into a repository for Cronenberg’s mutilating imagination. Max’s stomach opens up frequently, sometimes to accept videos directly from Videodrome, and other peculiar things happen to him, most orchestrated by the vague conspirators who run Videodrome.

Cronenberg’s ambitions clearly put “Videodrome” beyond most horror movies, but his ideas aren’t always presented clearly. The basic plotting veers too confusingly from reality to the more convoluted state of fantasy that Cronenberg favors. We’re never really sure who’s running Videodrome and to what ends.

But even when confounding, this movie tickles you. The question of how powerful TV images affect our lives is obviously provocative, and the imagistic surprises come hot and heavy. “Videodrome” is also very funny, due in great part to Woods hyped-up acting (he’s always in your face, even when his nightmare is at its worst) and how the other performers (especially the icy Harry) react to him.

What: David Cronenberg’s “Videodrome.”

When: Friday, May 8, at 7 and 9 p.m.

Where: UC Irvine’s Student Center Crystal Cove Auditorium.

Whereabouts: Take the San Diego (405) Freeway to Jamboree Road and headsouth to Campus drive. Head east on Campus to Bridge Road.

Wherewithal: $4.

Where to Call: (714) 856-6379.