Semi- or quasi-satirical science fiction, to do with TV violence and mind-control and other old-hat subjects. Considerable interest and tension build up, however, on the way to ultimate incoherence and irresolution. And unstomachability. These qualities, together with the morally neutered, brainwashed hero and unidentified villains, produce a rather chilly emotional climate, and the only thing, finally, that bars the viewer from total passivity is the repulsiveness of the special effects. As so often, the viewer has to be willing to feel that a certain quota of gruesome special effects constitutes a movie. A lot of s-f fans (to say nothing of s-m fans) undoubtedly do feel that way. James Woods, Deborah Harry; written and directed by David Cronenberg. (1983) — Duncan Shepherd
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