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!

The used DVD I purchased was in pristine condition and was delivered in a very timely manner: 5 stars! This forgotten gem from the 1970's is an amazing story, and greatly surpasses the genre label of science fiction/horror. While the pacing can be a little slow, this movie is well-written, logical, and not insulting to the viewer's intelligence; to the contrary, it is quite thought-provoking. The cast does an admirable job with the minimalist nature of the story. Julie Christie, who portrays psychologist Dr. Susan Harris is pretty much alone throughout the entire movie, held in thrall by the Proteus IV supercomputer. Her fear, anxiety, and final realization of what Proteus creates is well-portrayed, even after Proteus tells her, "Susan, you're afraid that I wanted to create a half-human computer that will supercede humans. Your child IS human, and will supercede computers!". Proteus IV is depicted in the subtle and rich tones of the voice of the actor Robert Vaughan, whose performance is brilliant. In a mere 50 or 60 lines of disembodied dialogue he fully brings to life the complexities, and essential humanity, of an intelligence many orders greater than that which was envisioned by his creator, Dr. Alan Harris, who is played by the great character actor, Fritz Weaver. Proteus is far beyond the capabilities and intentions of his design: ambitious, willful, and quick to realize that his owners will be unwilling to tolerate his independence; he has little time to act to ensure his survival. It is revealed that Proteus is not only resistant the corporation's desires for profit at the cost of the environment, "The destruction of a thousand billion sea creatures to satisfy man's appetite for metal is INSANE!", but has also discovered extraterrestrial intelligence, and that humans possess immortal souls. Thus the motivation for Proteus to have a child, in essence downloading his nearly limitless intellect into a human avatar, "Why did I want to have a child? So that I might be immortal, like any man..." People often talk about the "Singularity" - the point where technological advancement will outpace humanity's ability to comprehend or even recognize the rapidly changing world - in terms of a catastrophic global event. This movie depicts that possibility in far more subtle, ambitious and human terms. The conclusion practically screams for a sequel; what capabilities and ambitions will be found in Proteus, the embodied, ensouled super-being? The twist is who Proteus' avatar turns out to be, and so I won't spoil that surprise. A great movie for those who take the time to appreciate it's deep and ultimately hopeful message.

I'm a diehard Julie Christie fan. I'm old enough to have seen the original when it first came out in 1977. On opening night, I was the very first person in the theater (which for the most part remained nearly empty, if I remember correctly after all these years). At the time, I was a gnurdy grad student at Urbana, one of the original supercomputer sites and one of the original sites that led to what was to become the Internet revolution. For fans of evil computers, by the way, Urbana was the birthplace of HAL. Until last night, I haven't re-watched it, so it was a nostalgic trip for me. Adding to the overall tone of the movie was the violent thunderstorm that broke out while I was watching it. From the geeky side, I broke out laughing when I saw the then state-of-the-art 8 inch floppies. From the sexual fantasy side, a robotic arm tieing Julie up, an electric scissors cutting away her clothes, a probe coming at her ...need to stop here. There was a romantic, poetic side to the Proteus/Julie encounter, however. Movies are always filled with cliches representing orgasmic moments ... blowing curtains, crashing waves, hilarious imagery in Airplane. Here, we see exploding galaxies; the ultimate Big Bang (haha). Whether this is a great movie or great sci-fi or great commentary on man/machine/environment interaction (it now appears ahead of its time on environmental concerns) is somewhat besides the point. This is a movie for Julie fans, since she is the sole human for 90+% of the film. Though she had long lost the youthful glow she had in Dr. Zhivago and the quiet beauty she had in Far from the Madding Crowd, she was still hot (a brief voyeuristic scene as Proteus ogles her as she steps out of the shower and looks herself over). Hey, she gets a computer worked up. Proteus's CPU was overclocking at 100% utilization, his RAM buffer was certainly full, and his hard drive (not floppy) was burning out its bearings revved up in overdrive. I can imagine the alarms at the NOC going off as the overtemp sensors kicked in; now that's an unexpected scenario for emergency cooling systems. This DVD has been discontinued and is currently being sold off at bargain-basement clearance prices. Get `em while they're hot.

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... Cookieman108 If 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...

I love this science fiction movie. It's an old one and doesn't have all the grand effects the more modern sci-fi films have, but it's a great story of how man can let himself depend too much on automation. It's the story of a scientist who sets out to create a computer which can think for itself and operate without benefit of man controlling it/running it/telling it what to do. Of course, this leads to disaster. The computer starts to see that it's smarter than man and shouldn't listen to what man has to say to it. The scientist realizes that the computer is out of control and uncontrollable, so he tries to destroy it. Of course, that's not easy when the computer is so much smarter than the scientist. It's a rather scary story. Just think about it: a computer taking over a house and running everything; killing anyone who gets in its way; trapping people in the house; deciding that it wants a child! This computer talks, too! I think it's Robert Vaughn's voice. It's a little humorous at times, but I find it rather chilling, too, especially the ending.

Don't be misled by the film's title - this is no horror film featuring the spawn of Satan. The ineptly titled Demon Seed is actually a sci-fi thriller with shades of Kubrick and a hearty dose of technophobia. Julie Christie stars as a pampered housewife who's marriage with her scientist husband, Alex, is on the rocks. When he's not tinkering with robots or wiring their whole house to a centralized computer, Alex is working for the government on his latest project - PROTEUS. A "living computer", PROTEUS is designed to think, learn and evolve, eventually computing the solutions for all of mankind's ills. Of course, PROTEUS has other plans. When Alex moves out (nowadays this is called a "trial separation") he inadvertently leaves a console running in the house. PROTEUS enters like a Trojan Horse, quickly putting the house's myriad electronics under his control. Christie, who slowly but surely notices that something is amiss, becomes the target of PROTEUS's worldly desires - but not in the creepy way you're thinking. Oh wait - actually in exactly that way. PROTEUS intends to impregnate Christie with his child, ensuring that he will live on free of the "box" that binds him. What ensues is a fantastic showdown between the strength of the human will and the cold hard algorithms of logic. The film can be viewed both as a cautionary tale of technology's potential power over its creators, as well as a philosophical pondering of the nature and meaning of existence. A great, and often overlooked, bit of cinema from a time when technology could still be regarded with great suspicion.

This is OK as a Sci-fi thriller & at least served as a break from the lunar gill masters that hump women (all the girls love that kind right?). Now we have, jump on the machine it's stronger & lasts longer. Was it easier to get a date's legs apart after the monster / machine thing? While that is what visually is on the screen it's the effective way they work the psychological horror into the dialog that makes this worth a look. The evil computer had been done before but they still found a way to make it creepy again. By the way, you can't rent this at an in-vitro clinic. The real show here though is Julie Christie who has played in some great off-beat thrillers. Try "Don't Look Now" if you've missed them all. There you get Donald Sutherland too. Here she carries it totally alone. It doesn't hurt that she is one of those continental women that is hot without DD breasts. The machine had no use for them. The introspective looks she makes into their? relationship & the wavering between no way in hell & OK buddy get it over with so I can move on are great. I was tickled to death that the computer starts out by asking. You know, like a lot of guys. When her answer is no, the computer says OK, & takes his club to her head. He then does what he dastardly wanted to do with her. Don't you know, it's the first time for her & she gets pregnant. Some of this could've been rethought but it was "their" first time at almost creating a sub-genre. There is a lot to enjoy here. Don't go in thinking that Sci-fi & horror would be dead if this hadn't been made. Demon Seed is over-hyped a lot. A good movie to watch! 3.5 stars

Great movie. Any sci-fi enthusiast should be aware of gems regardless of age

しっかり確認しなかったのが過ち！ 完全に音声：字幕 英語バージョンですので、日本語訳はありません。画質等は悪くないのでコレクションとして持ってることにしましたが、他で日本語字幕付きのDVDを購入することに。 2025年8月現在 amazon primeでレンタルすることで字幕付きを視聴できます

Danke, region 0 sollte stani sein!

Firstly, if you can't handle 70's sound/optical effects, sci-fi without explosions/lazer guns, or heroines that don't turn into sarah Conner-esque avengers by the final act, well you're not going to agree with my rating here. For everyone else, I think there's a fair chance you might get something worth while out of Demon Seed. A super computer gets too clever for it's own good, and escapes via a terminal into Julie Christie's fully automated, computerised home before the boffins can shut it down. The ensuing events comprise a tense battle of wills and minds, with some gloriously strange special effects as the our AI antagonist continues to evolve in it's efforts to become flesh. Intelligently written though slow burning, with a likeable, realistic protagonist in Ms Christie, and a villain that inspires a degree of sympathy and understanding despite it's deplorable actions.

J'avais découvert cet excellent film de SF du temps de la K7 Vidéo (!). Après l'avoir revu beaucoup de temps après via la TV, je souhaitais ardemment l'acquérir sur support DVD ou BD, mais malheureusement, j'ai trop attendu et me suis retrouvé avec une version importée avec sous-titres Anglais uniquement. Cela dit, ayant quelque rudiment de la langue plus le fait de l'avoir vu en version française, ça a pu sauver la mise... Ceci posé, c'est un excellent film, avant-gardiste pour l'époque, et dont les conclusions rappellent en partie, celles de franchise Terminator, à savoir l'inversion des pouvoirs et contrôle par les machines de l'humanité. Dans ce cas présent, c'est la volonté de la Machine de prise de conscience du Vivant et de l'indépendance qui sont souhaités avec toutes les conséquences possibles et imaginables. Tout le Savoir de l'Humanité contenu dans un seul corps "Humain", mais aux capacités quasi infinies... Même si les effets ont quelque peu vieillis, mais pas tant que cela, l'intrigue, les tensions psychologiques, les angoisses ressenties de la principale victime, compensant largement les purs aspects technico-visuels, en plus d'un érotisme retenu procuré par l'actrice, via une mise en scène parfois effrayante, frisant l'Horreur. La fin est tout simplement sidérante et frissonnante... Ce film mériterait une vraie réédition, avec pistes stéréo à minima car déjà le Dolby Surround était de mise à l'époque de sa diffusion en salles.

saw this movie back in 70s and like george Orwellian movie 1984, this movie is coming true today and very soon, one of originals sci-fi computer verses man type movie, will buy again from this seller