David Cronenberg Marathon: eXistenZ (1999)

Today I have started a David Cronenberg Marathon that is including his horror films from the 1970's up to the 2000's. Cronenberg is one of my favorite director's and has made some of the greatest horror films of all time. His movies utilize body horror to grippingly disgust the viewer in ways that other directors can only attempt to do. Cronenberg has shaped the current horror genre with his movies, especially The Fly and Videodrome, and he uses amazingly grotesque effects to repulse the viewer, which I would compare to the effects in Carpenter's masterpiece The Thing. Cronenberg has forever influenced the horror genre and over the next week I will begin posting a movie a day review of his amazing films. The first movie is his 1999 film, eXistenZ.

eXistenZ is a very unapreciated horror film, especially when you consider that it perfectly criticizes videogames. Being an avid gamer I must admit that this film is spot on with its depiction of videogames and I admittedly felt disgusted at certain scenes in the film. The movie is about a game designer who is on the run after there is a murderous attempt against her life. With her body guard she goes on the run and eventually convinces him to play through her videogame eXistenZ. That is the basic interpretation of the plot, yet the film is so much more than that, especially when the characters lose their grip on reality and can't determine when they are or aren't in the game. The ending of the film must be addressed, as without spoiling it I can say that it is one of the largest mindfucks I have experienced since Total Recall. The entire film is a criticism on gamers, as to play these new games a person must get a 'biolink', which is basically a cord that is used to plug a player directly into the game world. This is a terrifying concept that gaming could go as far as to place the player into the game by having them physically plugging themselves into it, without any controller or DUI to separate the player from the experience.

The movie also uses some intense effects regarding the gaming 'pods' which are used to play the games, as the console itself is a living creature. The gun used in the attempt to kill the designer is rather laughable at first, yet disgusting when it is first assembled. The gamer connects to the game by placing a cord into a hole in their back, which is incredibly gross to watch. The gore is also quite outstanding, as a doctor does surgery on one of the game consoles.

The symbolism within the film is also quite extraordinary, as the characters connect to the game to escape their boring lives, which is a strong comparison to real world gamers that play videogames to escape their boring lives (especially MMO players). The film's title may seem stupid, yet 'isten' means 'God' in Hungarian, a connection which is simple to make after seeing the film and how characters treat the game designer as a deity and play the games religiously. The movie feels incredibly possible for the future of videogames, especially if virtual reality were created; would people be able to differentiate between the real and digital worlds?

This was a very good film, yet besides its criticism of gamers its a rather scattered and hard to follow plot, trying to tell two stories that don't lead anywhere. The ending falls along the lines of 'it was all just a dream', however is much more creative and sticks together with the overall film's plot. I greatly enjoyed it and it was a great start for my Cronenberg Marathon.

Rating: 7/10