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Monday, December 7, 2020

Demon Seed (1977)

A computer called Proteus (voiced by Robert Vaughn) is an extremely advanced and autonomous artificial intelligence program. So much so that the scientist (Fritz Weaver) who helped invent and design him is disturbed by the computer's questions and demands. When the computer spots the scientist's estranged wife (Julie Christie), he makes plans to extend his mortality. Based on the novel by Dean Koontz and directed by Donald Cammell (PERFORMANCE). This science fiction oddity plays like a cousin of ROSEMARY'S BABY (though nowhere near the brilliance of the Polanski film) except with a computer instead of Satan. It should be profoundly silly but somehow on a B movie level, it works. What Julie Christie is doing in a movie like this is a puzzlement, she's overqualified for a potboiler (however well done) like this. The film doesn't tap into her talent at all and she seems confused (the actress, not her character). One can't blame her, how does one react to being raped by a computer? Still, on its own whacky level, it's quite watchable and the birth of the "child" is genuinely creepy. With Gerrit Graham, Lisa Lu and Barry Kroeger.

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