The Big Picture: Demon Seed

[SonOfVoorhees]

I saw this years ago on video, here i thought you were gonna blog something obscure. Although, granted, it was a film my dad had in his collection. Although this movie is awesome, if dated, it still works. Maybe they need a remake or a sequel to see what happens to the kid at the end.

 

[Stabby Joe]

Aha! I have heard of and seen this film...

...problem is I didn't care for it. I mean it was a pretty good concept yet I just felt it was handled in a somewhat silly manner.

 

[rda_Highlander]

Holy shit, what's with those ads? I came here to listen about some obscure shitty movie, not listening about fucking breast cancer! I think Escapist just went down a little more. Not because of content at least.

 

[haruvister]

Westworld should be remade. I generally hate remakes, but it was an awesome concept (Jurassic Park with robot cowboys), with a really foreboding atmosphere, and a soul-raping ending - the only problem was it was directed by its writer, Michael Crichton, who should have stuck to the day job.

The problem with that remake is it was Yul Brynner that made that movie great for me.

True, Brynner was irreplaceable.

But... I can see a worried, wide-eyed Cillian Murphy in Richard Benjamin's role. Josh Brolin could replace James Brolin. Bring in Cliff Martinez to do the music, and Vincenzo Natali to direct and BOOM! Box office gold.

 

[Blazing Bird]

Bob you liar, I've seen this movie. It was on the chiller network a couple of years ago. The premiss BLEW MY MIND.

 

[roostuf]

I'VE SEEN THIS MOVIE! Yay im a minority.

 

[jamashap]

If you're thinking of checking out Demon Seed, I'd highly recommend Colossus: The Forbin Project as a double feature bill. Combined, a pretty depressing view of coming technology.

 

[ms_sunlight]

{Regarding remaking Westworld)

The problem with that remake is it was Yul Brynner that made that movie great for me.

I respectfully disagree. Yul Brynner was a great actor, and his performance in this role was impeccable, but he was playing an emotionless android. It was Richard Benjamin that made that movie great for me. His performance was genuine and touching - it needed to be to hold such a tense film together.

What I really love about Westworld is it begins, it does what it needs to do and it ends in a neat hour and a half. There is no flab or filler in that film, and it's impeccably paced. It does not need to be remade, because you can watch it now and it's still a damned good bit of storytelling.

 

[ms_sunlight]

I've also seen Demon Seed. It's not a bad film, but it is super rapey. I felt very uncomfortable watching it, and not in a good horror film scary fun sort of way, rather in a what the hell? sort of way.

I refer you all to the following:

 

[Rawne1980]

{Regarding remaking Westworld)

The problem with that remake is it was Yul Brynner that made that movie great for me.

I respectfully disagree. Yul Brynner was a great actor, and his performance in this role was impeccable, but he was playing an emotionless android. It was Richard Benjamin that made that movie great for me. His performance was genuine and touching - it needed to be to hold such a tense film together.

What I really love about Westworld is it begins, it does what it needs to do and it ends in a neat hour and a half. There is no flab or filler in that film, and it's impeccably paced. It does not need to be remade, because you can watch it now and it's still a damned good bit of storytelling.

I do agree but there was just something about the performance by Yul and his look that made the psychotic robot cowboy "believable" in a way.

But I do agree with Benjamins performance aswell.

All in all it was a fantastic movie, even to this day it's still aged pretty well I think.

I'll try and rephrase it in a better way, just saying Yul's performance made it for me doesn't explain myself very well.

There is a thin line between playing a "good" evil character and an over the top one. That performance by Yul was spot on for me due to the lack of emotion and the constant hunting and following he did with that look on his face. It just worked, as I said, for a believable crazed robot cowboy (although saying it like that makes it sound daft).

The way remakes have been going i'd just be worried they may try to have that character "act up" to portray insanity rather than keep what made it kind of scary to begin with which was the distinct lack of emotion. It wanted to kill and it felt nothing about doing it, no joy no remorse just blank faced killing.

Just worried that if they do remake it they may go over the top and try to have a Joker-esque style of evil killer cowboy robot (the more I say things like that the dafter the plot sounds).

You know what I mean though?

Wouldn't want to lose what made the film in the first place.

 

[ms_sunlight]

There is a thin line between playing a "good" evil character and an over the top one. That performance by Yul was spot on for me due to the lack of emotion and the constant hunting and following he did with that look on his face. It just worked, as I said, for a believable crazed robot cowboy (although saying it like that makes it sound daft).

The way remakes have been going i'd just be worried they may try to have that character "act up" to portray insanity rather than keep what made it kind of scary to begin with which was the distinct lack of emotion. It wanted to kill and it felt nothing about doing it, no joy no remorse just blank faced killing.

Just worried that if they do remake it they may go over the top and try to have a Joker-esque style of evil killer cowboy robot (the more I say things like that the dafter the plot sounds).

You know what I mean though?

Wouldn't want to lose what made the film in the first place.

Now this I totally agree with. I hate to think of how badly the role would be ruined by making the role idiosyncratic or putting Terminator-style quips in the cowboy's mouth.

The cowboy is terrifying because he is relentless and implacable. His programming tells him to be a gunslinger and kill people, so he kills people. He is not evil; he does not enjoy it, it's just what he is. He cannot be reasoned with, he cannot be swayed.

Absolute worst case scenario: casting Johnny Depp.

 

[ThunderCavalier]

...

I have the sudden urge to destroy a computer.

 

[RTK1576]

Being a fan of Dean Koontz's middle-career work (his older novels are kinda bad and his newer stuff is also kinda bad), I'm often amazed at how badly his work translates to film. I could blame Hollywood, and I do, but Koontz's writing style (and especially his idea of dialogue) just doesn't work on-screen.

Demon Seed might be an anomaly in that the movie is better than the book. I read the original book. Not exactly his best novel, but not bad. Mostly forgettable. Definitely no killer-geometric-snake, but it does go a little crazy in its own right. I guess I have to watch the movie finally and see for myself (though you've spoiled it pretty good already, Bob... not that I'm complaining).

 

[master109]

funny thing is i have heard of this movie and i have also seen it i liked it

 

[UncleOvid]

Nice. I've been meaning to see this one for a while now. Might be obliged to jump it up my queue at this point.

ALSO! Wicked thanks for the 'Phantom Tollbooth" ref. Didjaknow? This month is the fiftieth anniversary of its printing. I only mention it because a) it's like, one of my FAVORITE BOOKS EVER, and b) honestly, I'm a little surprised that a geek forum of this caliber has gone 80 posts without honoring it with a mention. For shame, guys, for shame...