Demon Seed.

Review #996: Demon Seed.

Cast: 
Julie Christie (Susan Harris), Fritz Weaver (Alex Harris), Gerrit Graham (Walter Gabler), Berry Kroeger (Petrosian), Lisa Lu (Soon Yen), Larry J. Blake (Cameron), John O'Leary (Royce), and Robert Vaughn (Proteus IV) Directed by Donald Cammell.

Review: 
What better way to (belatedly) start off October but with a horror film? I honestly had planned for the review to occur later in the month, but I decided that there needed to be some kind of start, especially with the countdown. Anyways....

This was adapted from the 1973 novel of the same name by Dean Koontz (which he would later rewrite and republish 24 years later), and I certainly have to give credit to the strange and unique premise: an artificially intelligent computer imprisons a woman in order to try to make a child. The computer (which can control the lighting, temperature control, security, etc) is certainly an interesting character to watch, especially with Robert Vaughn (who was not credited for the role) doing the voice for him; there is just something about the way he speaks that is quite chilling and effective. Christie proves to be a pretty capable lead, being quite vulnerable along with watchable as well. The rest of the cast do a capable job in their roles, not being dumbed down (too much, at least) or made to be fodder. It proves to be an interesting blend of science fiction and horror, though it is hard to say that it is really a classic. It definitely is watchable, and the performances are certainly workable, but I can't really say that the film as a whole works enough to be great. It certainly doesn't plod much at a run-time of 94 minutes, earning most of its minutes while also a fairly shocking ending that serves as either the capstone of a film worth watching or a film as ridiculous as it gets with science fiction (and horror as well). It has fairly interesting imagery (for the most part) and an a fairly useful soundtrack by Jerry Fielding as well. Regardless of creepy (or offbeat) one finds the film, it manages to have enough compelling moments to deserve at least one watch.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.