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eXistenZ

United Kingdom, Canada

1999

97 Min
Color
1.78:1
English
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
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DIR David Cronenberg

PROD David Cronenberg, Andras Hamori, Robert Lantos

SCR David Cronenberg

DP Peter Suschitzky

CAST Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law, Ian Holm, Willem Dafoe, Don McKellar, Callum Keith Rennie, Christopher Eccleston, Sarah Polley

ED Ronald Sanders

PROD DES Carol Spier

MUSIC Robert Lantos

Rotterdam (In Competition)

Synopsis

Allegra Geller, the leading game designer in the world, is testing her new virtual reality game, eXistenZ with a focus group. As they begin, she is attacked by a fanatic assassin employing a bizarre organic gun. She flees with a young marketing trainee who becomes her bodyguard. Unfortunately, her pod, an organic gaming device that contains the only copy of the eXistenZ game program, is damaged. To inspect it, she talks Ted into accepting a gameport in his own body so he can play the game with her. The ensuing events and the resulting game lead the pair on a strange adventure where reality and their actions are impossible to determine from either their own or the game’s perspective. –Amakula Kampala International Film Festival

Director

Original

David Cronenberg

David Cronenberg, also known as the King of Venereal Horror or the Baron of blood, was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1943. His father was a journalist, and his mother was a piano player. After showing an inclination for literature at an early age (he wrote and published eerie short stories, thus following his father’s path) and for music (playing classical guitar until he was 12), Cronenberg graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in Literature after switching from the science department. He reached the cult status of horror-meister with the gore-filled, modern-vampire variations of Shivers (1975) and Rabid (1977), following an experimental apprenticeship in independent filmmaking and in Canadian television programs.

Cronenberg gained popularity with the head-exploding, telepathy-based Scanners (1981) after the release of the much underrated, controversial, and autobiographical The Brood (1979). Cronenberg become a sort… read more

Wall

Displaying 4 of 23 wall posts.
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Tigrane

3Feb12

It's probably my least favorite Cronenberg film, but still very worth watching. The similarities with "Inception" are also very funny.

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Adam Eisentrout

6Nov11

Supremely underrated. A great take on videogame culture.

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meancreek

4Nov11

David Cronenberg is a director whose vision and ideas never fail to reach new heights with each project. An incredibly clever film that messes with your mind and leaves you thinking after the credits roll. Ignore this and you're missing out big time on a unique experience.

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Gerald

17Oct11

It really didn't do it for me.

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Articles

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W184

Daily Viewing. Telaroli on Cronenberg

By David Hudson on January 21, 2012

A stunning new look at Dead Ringers (1998).

read article

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Reviews

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Turner Stewart Reviews eXistenZ

By Turner S on April 8, 2010

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…  read review

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EXISTENZ

5 posts by 4 people 11 months ago