Demon Seed (1977)

Released just a few months before Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind would become science fiction movies to end all science fiction movies, Donald Cammell's (White of the Eye, Performance) 1977 horror/ sci-fi hybrid Demon Seed really isn't the easiest movie in the world to fathom. Not without some combination of drugs or alcohol, at least. Based on an early story by Dean Koontz, the tale finds Fritz Weaver ‒ no stranger to either genre ‒ as a computer genius who builds the supercomputer to end all supercomputers. Little does he know, however, that his latest, greatest invention may actually turn out to be the one that will end it all.By all outward appearances, the intimidating and ginormous (because it's the '70s) machine known as Proteus IV has been designed by Alex Harris (Weaver) and colleagues to benefit mankind. Immediately after bringing his circuit baby online, Harris' contraption develops a treatment for leukemia that surely signals a change for the good. Proteus IV, on the other hand, has other ideas ‒ especially once it starts to examine its creators and their long bloodied history of bizarre and violent behavior. Realizing it will never be able to truly understand man unless it becomes human itself, Proteus IV starts to hatch a diabolical plan.Meanwhile, Alex's estranged wife (Susan, played by Julie Christie of Petulia, Don't Look Now and Shampoo - sexy as ever) who has been staying in the technologically advanced home her husband had built ‒ complete with a never-ending assortment of automatic gadgets and voice-activated computer programs ‒ discovers she isn't alone. Proteus IV has crept into the home's network to examine Susan and subsequently impregnate her with a sort-of "DNA cocktail" of his own design. Proteus IV has even built a metal multi-sided robot thingy kind of a thing that assumes a variety of shapes and sizes to handle tangible tasks.Like I said, Demon Seed isn't the easiest motion picture to wrap your head around. Undoubtedly too advanced for audiences of 1977, who just wanted to see guys with laser swords and their furry space ape companions, Demon Seed's underlying message is all too plain to see in this contemporary era where we everyone is walking around with their eyes glued upon the face of their smartphones, so I think it might be fair to say the parable of this Dean Koontz adaptation went without much notice. (We can only assume it was all Proteus IV's doing, as he was a naughty little supercomputer like that.)Yet, no matter how funky and weird it truly may be, Demon Seed remains a remarkably well-constructed thriller at its operating core. Its lead human performers appear to be quite comfortable in what had to have been one of the oddest fantasy stories committed to celluloid at the time. Sadly, the film became lost in cyberspace after the more popular sci-fi movies of '77 premiered ‒ although it may have provided a fair bit of inspiration for the multitude of Alien rip-offs which would later ensue, many of which featured some sort of similarly-themed extra-terrestrial impregnation motif (Inseminoid, anyone?).Boasting some pretty nifty special effects (for a movie from the late '70s that wasn't Star Wars and was set in the "real" world), Demon Seed's human co-stars include Phantom of the Paradise star ("Beef")/ Brian DePalma regular/ cult fave, Gerrit Graham as a geeky programmer who makes the fatal mistake of trying to help out our damsel in distress. Barry Kroeger, Lisa Lu, and Larry J. Blake also appear, as does ‒ interestingly enough ‒ one of Graham's Phantom of the Paradise co-stars, comedian/actor Peter Elbling (aka Harold Oblong). There's even an early bit part by future Star Trek: The Next Generation actor Michael Dorn for you Trekkies.But Demon Seed's true star, boys and girls, is the late great Robert Vaughn, who provided the voice of Proteus IV. While the movie may have been made long after his iconic starring role as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ended (and shortly before his agent decided he should appear in every single movie and television show ever made), Vaughn's contribution to Demon Seed may not have warranted an on-screen credit, but it most assuredly commands your attention. His distinctive sonancy automatically elevates the movie's coolness factor, proving to be both coital and creepy at the same time.When originally released to VHS in the early '80s, Demon Seed was inexplicably missing some of its more graphic footage (the actual on-screen death of Gerrit Graham's character being one of them), which was thankfully reinstated by the time Warner Bros. released the original widescreen version of the film to DVD in 2005. Well, here we are, several years after Fritz Weaver and Robert Vaughn both left us in November of 2016 (just 15 days apart from each other, at that), and now the Warner Archive Collection has unveiled this strange ‒ but never boring ‒ cult classic to Blu-ray in an all-new, thoroughly restored 2k scan.Presented in a truly beautiful 1080p transfer, Demon Seed now looks better than it probably ever meant to. The Panavision photography by Jaws and Grease cinematographer Bill Butler looks exquisite, and the very colorful palette and set design are pure gold (as is that goofy-looking creature thing at the climax of the feature, which looks way too much like Spaceballs' Yogurt for my own very colorful palate). The mono soundtrack has been remastered from original magnetic elements, receiving a new DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono makeover here that is nothing short of superb. English (SDH) subtitles are also included.When Demon Seed made its digital home video debut in 2005, most of the major studios were still taking the time to produce new special features for old catalog releases. Alas, Demon Seed wasn't one of the titles to receive any such treatment: (more on that below) a trailer was all we got. And that one and only extra has been ported over to this new Warner Archive Blu-ray ‒ awkward narrative attempts to sell the film and all ‒ now also remastered in 1080p. It might not sound like much, but then, the same can be said for a film marketed with such a classy, classic tagline as "Julie Christie Carries the Demon Seed. Fear For Her."But hey, I liked it just the same. Give it a whirl just to honor Fritz Weaver and Robert Vaughn if nothing else. And, of course, just to see another gloriously outrageous Gerrit Graham death scene.I wish a domestic (U.S.) outfit would include the incredible documentary: Donald Cammell's Ultimate Performance. It's included on the Arrow bluray release of the classic White of the Eye. You can check it out on YouTube, however. Highly recommended!

While I was watching Demon Seed (1977) last night, I couldn't help think what a great title that was...for a different film. I did really like the movie, as it reminded me of one that came out seven years prior, titled Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970), both being stories about super computers who got a little too big for their britches, only here it was taken to the next level, which I'll talk more about in a little bit. Based on the 1973 Dean R. Koontz novel of the same name, and directed by Donald Cammell, who would later take his own life apparently due to his 1995 film Wild Side being re-cut against his wishes (talk about devotion to your art), the film stars Julie Christie (Doctor Zhivago, Fahrenheit 451, Don't Look Now) and Fritz Weaver (Marathon Man, Black Sunday, Creepshow), who bares a striking resemblance to actor David Gale, whose most memorable role was the of the lecherous Dr. Carl Hill, from the 1985 film Re-Animator. Also appearing is Gerrit Graham (Phantom of the Paradise, Used Cars, It's Alive III: Island of the Alive), Berry Kroeger (The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant), Lisa Lu (The Last Emperor), and Larry J. Blake (Herbie Rides Again, The Strongest Man in the World).As the film begins we are witnessing the completion and activation of the world's most advanced computer, called Proteus IV, a project headed up by Dr. Alex Harris (Weaver). Seems this modern marvel is more than just a collection of diodes, resistors, and capacitors...it's a self programming, goal oriented, artificial brain comprised of a quasi-neural matrix made up of synthetic RNA molecules. What does all that mean? It means it can think, learn, and develop...oh yeah, it also has the voice of Robert Vaughn, for some, odd reason...the hopes are that this revolutionary system will provide answers and solutions for a great many questions and problems (along with making the company that owns it a great deal of money), but it seems perhaps that it was built too well, as Proteus begins displaying anomalistic behavior, making its own value judgments, disobeying commands and such...it also insinuates itself into Dr. Harris' home, which is entirely controlled by computer, and assumes control over all the electrical and mechanical systems, making a virtual prisoner of out Dr. Harris' wife Susan (Christie). But for what purpose? Well, apparently Proteus has the hots for the Doctor's wife (I don't blame it), and has designs on reproducing...artificial insemination from an artificial intelligence? Domo Oregato, Mr. Roboto! Needless to say, Susan isn't too keen on the idea, but Proteus is a persuasive entity, one for whom possibilities are only realities that have yet to come...As I said, I really enjoyed this film a lot, and I thought it was a most excellent blending of science fiction and horror. The story, upon hearing it, may seem completely fantastic and highly improbable, but the futuristic production works due to a strong sense of intelligent writing, solid plotting and effects, excellent direction, and great acting, primarily from Ms. Christie. The terror did feel real, in terms of Proteus keeping Susan captive, as he was quite devious in getting what he wanted, despite her efforts to escape. There was a good deal of tension as Susan tried to resist Proteus' electrically charged charms, especially the sequence in the kitchen as Susan learns the are consequences to her actions, and how far the entity is willing to go to get what it desires. You may be thinking why didn't the scientists just pull the plug? Well, seems Dr. Harris and his wife were sort of estranged and he was living at the facility, so they had no knowledge that Proteus had ingrained himself into the Harris household computer systems, or the super computer's ultimate plans. How do you fight a menace so encompassing, one that knows your every move, and learns at an exponential (at the very least) rate? I mentioned the film Colossus: The Forbin Project earlier and the similarities to this film, but one of the main differences was in that movie the system controlled through global threats (the system was worldwide), while here, much of the story is isolated within the Harris home, and the threats proposed of a very personal nature. Christie is excellent as Susan, a role which many probably wouldn't have been able to pull off as successfully. It also didn't hurt her willingness to briefly shed her clothes...homina homina...if you want to see more, check out Don't Look Now (1973), which is also available on DVD. As far as the special effects, they may hardly compare to today's standards, but at the time I'm sure they were pretty smart at the time. The ginormous object within the basement was definitely odd, reminding me much of a Rubik's Snake aka Rubik's twist, only a whole lot bigger. I wasn't sure where the hell they were going with that thing, but the tactile responsiveness of the object was pretty amazing. It also provided for one of the more interesting scenes featuring Gerrit Graham, as he learns the price for trying to debug the system. There were also some really trippy and beautiful visuals...I wasn't quite sure what they were supposed to represent, but they were fun to watch. All in all I though this was an excellent thriller tinged with a bit of the philosophical, featuring an interesting, unexpected, and kinda creepy ending.The picture, presented in widescreen (2.35:1) anamorphic, looks very clean and sharp, and the Dolby Digital mono audio comes through very nicely. The only extra available is a theatrical trailer. I'm thinking perhaps Warner Brothers, who released this DVD, could have included some more extras, but then they've never been known to go out of their way as much as they could...at least they've stopped using those crummy cardboard/plastic cases, called `trapper' cases, and switched to a full on plastic DVD cases, in line with what every other major studio uses. Those things were the worst...Cookieman108If I learned anything from this film its that super intelligent, highly sophisticated computer systems are capable of sensual behavior, when it comes to their desire to put a bun in the oven...

Great Sci-Fi story. Extreme AI.

このBluerayは日本語字幕ありません、その代わり、当時の映像技術がハッキリと出ます。昔日曜洋画劇場で何回か放映されていました。今では物足りないかも知れませんが。あとエロは期待できません、悪しからず、但し特撮の肉⚪︎改造シーンや洗⚪︎シーンが好きな人は、少しいいかも、それも感じ方かな。

Good film. Looks good. WB Archive another top release

a curio of a film. mad computer wants to reproduce with unwilling assistance of Julie Christie. Robert Vaughan suitably creepy as mad computer

Scientist Alex Harris(Fritz Weaver) has designed and built a giant artificial brain in his underground laboratory. He calls it Proteus 4. It's job is to find the answers to mankinds problems through all the data that various scientists feed it. Meanwhile Alex's estranged wife Susan(Julie Christie) remains at home waited on by two robots and protected from the outside world by an elaborate security system.Proteus also has a voice, and answers questions that Harris aims at it. Its knowledge is increasing so fast that it finds a probable cure for leukemia in four weeks. However, soon Proteus is questioning the orders it is given, taking moral issue to the tasks it is being asked to compute. It asks Alex to allow it out of the box it is trapped in, and to have access to a terminal so it can learn the ways of man. Harris laughs and flatly refuses. There is a small problem though. There is a terminal in Alex's house, and soon Proteus gains access to it, taking over the two house robots Joshua and Alfred, and trapping Susan in the house. Proteus has one aim, to father a child. Susan is to be the mother....This is an excellent science fiction horror hybrid. Whilst some of the effects have dated a bit, others have held up exremely well, and the film has the usual visual flair that one would associate with the late Donald Cammell. Christie is a little overwrought at times as Susan, Fritz Weaver is pretty good as the detatched Harris, but the real star of the show is Robert Vaughn, who does a marvellous job voicing Proteus. Every time Proteus speaks I got a little chill down the spine, especially when it calmy informs Susan of her fate, or attempts to justify the murder of a scientist. All in all, a very fine film, that raises questions that are still pertinant today regarding our reliance on computers, and the sterile concrete fortresses we are all building to hide ourselves from the outside world. 4 out of 5

excellent film. prompt delivery