Existenz
Yes, I didn't spell it right. I know. Spoilers ahoy, for this movie as well as the superior VIDEODROME.
Funny, but you'd think that movie would hit my sweet spot(s). Cronenberg, video games/virtual realities, horror, etc. Thing is, during the entirety of the film, I was thinking, "Gee, how much more messed-up would this be if I'd seen it at age 15 or hadn't seen VIDEODROME already?"
Don't let's misunderstand. It's not a bad movie. The actors deliver the performances required of them, but when the majority of the movie takes place inside a video game populated with underperforming NPCs (basically), then there's not a lot of room to roam. There's moments were we get to see some acting, but really, when that's encapsulated in the "debriefing" at the end of the movie, that's like getting leftovers from a really tasty dish. They're not bad in and of themselves, but you can't help remembering how good the dish originally was.
There's some fine touches, notably the gaming pods of squirmy Cronenbergian bio-technology, which wouldn't be out of place on the set of NAKED LUNCH, and echoed the earlier VIDEODROME in the the dissolution of boundaries between skin and telepresence. Again, though, you're being reminded of an earlier work and it's not standing on its own as well as it could've.
Scares? Not a lot. But then Cronenberg specializes more in existential discomfort that adrenalin thrills. And in truth, he delivers here as well: guns made of human leftovers, spinal umbillical connections, mutated amphibians by the truckload, being harvested for their organs which then get turned into more freaky game pods.
Ultimately, though, more than a little disappointing. Though Cronenberg himself seems to wink at us by way of the addition of the literal shaggy dog, from which are produced weapons that are used to kill the gaming gods. VIDEODROME's earlier message of revolution from within the fantasy generated by imagination and media is echoed as well, by reality-defying assassins clawing their way into our world, replacing mundanity with possibility.
Or do they? In VIDEODROME, the main character undergoes physical transformation, and imposes that upon others (or he's totally looney and hallucinating like nobody's business, which is certainly a reading that stands up, but I think is drowned out by the film's other themes). In EXISTENZ, there's a mental brainwashing or religious conversion, but no physical transformation.
That said, if you enjoyed EXISTENZ and haven't seen VIDEODROME, I'll say "Step away from the keyboard immediately and secure a copy somehow and then watch VIDEODROME RIGHT NOW. You can thank me later."
There were certainly some nice touches in EXISTENZ, perhaps prescient ones. EXISTENZ isn't about just shooting stuff or blowing things up, but about the social relations between the players. That's certainly true of what's arguably the most popular games today (GTA, WORLD OF WARCRAFT), though the levels of social interaction vary greatly from game to game in intensity and nature, obviously. Oddly, I got the feeling that Cronenberg doesn't really play games at all (or didn't in 1999) and doesn't think very highly of them, given the "plot on rails" approach that EXISTENZ seemed to take. Granted, most games back then were pretty much on rails from A to B to Z. Largely they still are, with the seemingness of choices on how to get to Z, but really, you still end up there and nowhere else. However, I'll note that a game like WORLD OF WARCRAFT will let the player themselves decide what Z they want to shoot for, whether it be videogame pugilism with other players, defeating programmed content, amassing virtual riches or playing every single task in the game just to prove that you can.
I'm actually very curious to see what Cronenberg would have done with an MMO. But as it stands, EXISTENZ is a nice little snack, though not particularly meaty.
EASTERN PROMISES, though. That's another matter. Maybe I'll talk that one up later, but I really should watch it again first. Hell, I should own a copy of that one.