Videodrome (1983)

David Cronenberg made a name for himself early in his career for creating some truly fantastic, violent, reality bending films. He wrote most of his films that has directed and one of the more unusual productions from his early career is "Videodrome". The movie almost feels like a David Lynch film except for the fact that it has a clear linear plot. The movie explores themes of obsession and control by having the protagonist Max Renn (James Woods) suffering through both experiences. The film dances back and forth from reality and Max's hallucinations more and more as the story races towards its end. The special effects and make-up by Rick Baker are creative and look organic, impressive work for that time period.

Max Renn is the president of a UHF television station in Toronto who is always seeking the next "big thing", but to him the next "big thing" has to be something that pushes the boundaries of good taste and has to shock his audience; his station showcases softcore porn and similar fare. When one of his engineers comes across a pirated signal that is showing people being tortured in various ways in a large orange room, Max becomes obsessed in finding out where the signal is coming from so he can air it for his station. During his search he meets Niki Brand, a radio personality who helps people on her show. Niki turns out to love S&M and becomes more obsessed than Max, going so far as to travel to Pittsburgh when they learn that that is where the signal is coming from. As the movie progresses, Max begins to have violent hallucinations, finding it difficult to tell what is real and what isn't. It doesn't help that an expert that he seeks help from is nothing more than a deceased man who has days worth of VHS tapes that contain all of his thoughts because he refused to talk to anyone directly. When Max finds out the sinister truth about the show "Videodrome" and his connection to it, he goes on a violent revengeful rampage throughout Toronto. 

Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)

“Tales From the Darkside: The Movie” is a fun anthology that has three great acts that are connected together with a cute “Hansel and Gretel” style story about a boy who is biding his time from the evil witch that wants to cook him as the main course for a dinner party. What’s noticeable about this film is that the cast consisted of some established actors as well as a few who were just cutting their teeth and have risen to stardom since then such as Steve Buscemi and Julianne Moore. The make-up and special effects are fine considering when this film was made although the gargoyles in the third act look too much like puppets to be effectively scary.

The first story arc is an adaption of Author Conan Doyle’s story “Lot 249” about a graduate student (Steve Buscemi) who uses a mummy to exact revenge against those who have wronged him.

The second story arc is an adaption of Stephen King’s short story “The Cat from Hell” about a hit man who is hired by an eccentric owner of a pharmaceutical company who is being terrorized by a black cat.

The third story arc is an adaption of an old Japanese ghost legend Yuki-Onna, about a painter who witnesses a gargoyle murdering a human. The gargoyle is about to kill the painter but spares his life, making him promise to never tell anyone about this moment; if he ever breaks the promise, the gargoyle will find him and kill him. The painter promises but how long can he keep this secret?

The witch and her dinner

The Gargoyle and the painter