Had this at 8, it's now a 10, here's why...

I obviously know this is a matter of opinion so I'm not looking to change minds or question others POVs, it's more just what this film represents to me and while Cronenberg obviously had deeper subtext, I think the INITIAL Reason he came up with technology idea for the film holds strong, even with the larger, control of the media etc...

What I absolutely LOVE about Videodrome is how it takes me smack dab to when I was 10,11, 12 years old... And how I was fascinated with films like this (Still am but nothing matches that youthful wonder.) I remember looking thru scrambled pictures to see strange films but I think I can Pin Point exactly when it really got me. Sometime long ago, my folks got some cheap Satellite TV, stolen of course as we were dead poor. And I had an influx of Films from all over and while today I understand the themes/subtext etc... Back then, it was just an Odyssey into Worlds I never knew. I was early into film. My parents and older brothers had me watching Scorsese and Kubrick at a very young age(I was 6 in 1990 and I had Goodfellas on tape, it then became my favorite film), no I'm not exaggerating either, I was just lucky that my folks never believed in being strict about film. In fact, my Mother says to this day I was an easy child, pop in a favorite film and I was in another world for hours. It's something I cherish about my upbringing daily...

But onto Videodrome. As many films as I may have saw, the Strange Body Horror that Cronenberg more or less invented was something I was never prepared for. I started seeing all these strange European Films, mostly French, Italian and Dutch but also Canadian Films that would never have been anywhere near my radar and many scared the shot outta me. Videodrome just blew me away, it's strange plot, odd effects, sexual implications that even at a young age, I atleast understood that it was sexual in nature. Why? Obviously I wasn't sure... I just knew it made me feel quite odd and off-putting. Just scary stuff as a Pre-teen. And eventually I started digging into his filmography, started reading and I saw that his first idea for this film came as a kid, scared to death of receiving something over the air he wasn't supposed to see. It's so relevant to anyone who grew up in that era. And this catches that the best IMO. Cronenberg just understood these subjects and not that he's not making great films today, because he definitely is. There's just something about those films from 78-88 or so(Give or take a few years extra in either direction), and they've been rooted in my subconscious since then. This isn't looked at as positively as it should be. I know it's gotten some recent "Re-reviews" but they aren't enough. This is without a doubt the most important films of the 80's and it still holds weight today. Far ahead of his time... Long Live The Flesh!