Julie Christie

Fritz Weaver

Gerrit Graham

Berry Kroeger

Lisa Lu

Larry J. Blake

John O'Leary

Alfred Dennis

Davis Roberts

Patricia Wilson

Dana Laurita

Michelle Stacy

Felix Silla

Tiffany Potter

E. Hampton Beagle

Michael Glass

Barbara O. Jones

Monica MacLean

Peter Elbling

Georgie Paul

Robert Vaughn

Donald Cammell

Dean R. Koontz

Herb Jaffe

Jerry Fielding

Frank Mazzola

Don L. Cash

Frank Griffin

Lee Harman

Dione Taylor

Alan Brimfeld

Edward Teets

Jerry Jost

William L. McCaughey

John Riordan

Tom Fisher

Terry W. King

Glen Robinson

Julie Ann Johnson

Grant Bassett

Jordan Belson

Richard L. Froman

Bo Gehring

Ron Hays

Domenic Iaia

James F. Liles

Bill Butler

Robert Jaffe

Roger O. Hirson

Steven-Charles Jaffe

Jennifer Shull

Edward C. Carfagno

Barbara Krieger

Regina Gruss

Horror

Science Fiction

Demon Seed

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

United States of America

I had only known of the eccentric, ill-fated director by going through Kenneth Anger's provocative short films collections and seeing Cammell act, early in his career, in Anger's 'Lucifer Rising'. Here, Julie Christie was both gorgeous and eerily convincing in a bizarre hybrid of 'Rosemary's Baby' with sci-fi elements reminiscent of 'Colossus: The Forbin Project'.

The unique atmosphere and directorial integrity alone are worth the price of admission here. Well worth both purchasing and re-watching for the cinematically adventurous connoisseurs out there.

_**If HAL from “2001: A Space Odyssey” were grounded in Los Angeles**_

Married to a computer scientist (Fritz Weaver), a child psychologist (Julie Christie) finds her home invaded by an autonomous supercomputer named Proteus IV, created by her husband at his futuristic lab in Thousand Oaks. What does it want?

"Demon Seed" (1977) is a techno-thriller that mixes “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968) with “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968), "Colossus: The Forbin Project" (1970) and “The Stepford Wives” (1975). Unlike “2001” the story is entirely Earth-bound, but the self-conscious supercomputer with a HAL-like voice, the psychedelic visual interludes and the sound effects are straight out of “2001.”

Julie looks great in a challenging role and the cutting edge effects (for that era) hold up. Furthermore, the movie creates a disturbing vibe concerning menacing, out-of-control technology. But the story’s just too one-dimensional with the bulk of it taking place in the couple’s house that Proteus has taken over. 

The film runs 1 hour, 34 minutes, and was shot in Thousand Oaks & Los Angeles, California.

GRADE: B-/C+

English

Demon Seed (1977) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HQ]