Des Teufels Saat

This movie does seem to be older than 1977 when you see it, yet it is very nice. Nice enough to have searched for it on Imdb. The film depicts a rarely seen machine intelligence, one that has a conscience, a purpose and a cool calculating mind. One would expect that from a machine, but usually machines in movies are stupid, mean, vengeful, everything a computer should have no reason to be. The ending is also great, showing the stupidity inherent in extreme human emotion. A must see and a classic. Demon Seed could seem to many troubling as it forces you to think and ask questions many of us prefer to refuse to ask. The nature of humanity, moral and thought are all put into question by this movie. See it and answer those questions for yourself.

Susan Harris (Julie Christie), wife of a scientist working in the field of advanced robotics, becomes a prisoner in her own home when super-computer Proteus IV, who also wants to spread its seed by impregnating Susan, takes charge of her life. I rented "Demon Seed" because I felt like watching something with a brain, and based on a lot of positive IMDb reviews, I was praying for a smart sci-if flick. My prayers were answered.

The acting in Demon Seed is fine. Robert Vaughn was creepy as hell as Proteus IV, both sinister and relaxed at the same time, in fact he does an even better job as an evil computer here than Douglas Rain did as HAL-9000 in 2001: A space Odyssey.

The film benefits greatly from an intelligent screenplay, penned by Robert Jaffe and Roger O. Hirson. The dialog is thought provoking and thankfully never really insults the audience's intelligence.

Helming the director's seat is Donald Cammell, who directs with a firm hand and injects a claustrophobic and uncomfortable atmosphere into the film, also managing to maintain the suspense scenes well. Interestingly, he apparently condones the film (assuming that calling the film a 'piece of sh*t' warrants that…).

As others have pointed out there are some dated aspects to the production. The special effects were sparse but thoroughly unconvincing, the only exception being the mesmerizing computer screens that consist of ever-changing shapes and colors that are shown on Proteus's computer terminal. The film takes place in the 'distant' future—1995, I believe—yet it looks like it's right out of the 70's, no thanks to the cars, clothing, computers and hair styles that give away the films age. This is a small complaint but an annoying one, though it's easy to ignore once you get involved with the story line.

"Demon Seed" is an intelligent sci-fi film that's pretty rare but if you happen to see a copy of it, pick it up if you're in the mood for something smart.

7.5/10.

Dr. Alex Harris (Fritz Weaver) has developed a computer called Proteus IV with organic artificial intelligence and lives with his estranged wife Susan (Julie Christie) in a fully automated house administrated by the computer Alfred. When Alex decides to separate from Susan to work harder In Proteus IV, the computer asks for an open terminal to study the human behavior to increase his knowledge. Alex refuses to give a terminal to Proteus IV, but he forgets that there is one at his home. Proteus IV uses the terminal to take over Alfred and trap Susan at home. He also decides to have a son with the wife of his creator to become immortal.

Forty years after its release, "Demon Seed" is a dated, but still fascinating sci-fi horror film. In the 60's and 70's, Julie Christie was sort of muse with magnificent cinematography including "Dr. Jivago", "Fahrenheit 451", "Don't Look Now" and has another wonderful performance. "Demon Seed" shows a scary view of artificial intelligence and has a great open conclusion. The character Walter Gabler is forgotten in the story. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Geração Proteus" ("Proteus Generation")

Dean R. Koontz's novel is adapted for the screen with this original and provocative science-fiction tale. An organic super computer dubbed Proteus has been created, but this entity has ambitions and thoughts that its creators couldn't have foreseen. The one emotion built into it is reason, and it doesn't want to just blindly follow orders; it questions things. For example, why it's so necessary to plunder the Earth's oceans in search of precious metals and destroy wildlife in the process. But what really intrigues Proteus (eerily voiced by an uncredited Robert Vaughn) is human life itself, and it traps Susan Harris (ever radiant Julie Christie) inside her own home, intending for her to bear its "child".

As one can see, "Demon Seed" is far from your typical sci-fi, and is positively creepy, and personal. For a while it's practically a two character drama, with the frightened Susan and the coldly determined Proteus locked in a battle of wills. With the high level of intimacy generated, it's easy to be with these characters and feel concerned for Susan's safety.

The popular subtext of this and similar features - "Colossus: The Forbin Project" and "The Terminator" - illustrating a potential for disaster in trusting our lives to machinery, is front and centre. The movie never insults the audience's intelligence, and as it plays out it's really fascinating to see. Even if one can take issue with the way the movie strongly dates itself - special effects, fashions, etc. - some of the visuals are still quite hypnotic and the scenario remains compelling the entire time, with a memorable and haunting wrap-up, which will leave the viewer to wonder about the "What next?" aspect.

The acting is strong from all concerned, with Christie an engaging lead, and the likable Fritz Weaver doing well as the confident human brain behind Proteus who realizes this creation of his can't be so easily controlled. It's also cool to have on hand the always entertaining Gerrit Graham ("Phantom of the Paradise", "Used Cars") as Susan's would-be rescuer, Walter Gabler.

Excellent widescreen cinematography by Bill Butler and chilling music by Jerry Fielding are also heavy assets in this solid shocker, one of the more noteworthy films of its type from its era.

Eight out of 10.

When we realize today how the computers changed our life ,"demon seed" can easily be looked upon as a film ahead of its time.A bizarre cross between "Rosemary's Baby" and "2001"'s "Hal 9000" ,one feels ill-at-ease after the viewing .The screenplay may seem far-fetched but today it can become a transparent metaphor :we might be the computers' prisoners and it won't improve with time.The computer might know intimate details about us,he may "rape" us in a way.

But what remains impressive today is how the director and the script writers managed to sustain interest while using only one character most of the time.Most of the time,the audience is left alone with Julie Christie and the "monster" (there are snatches of "Frankenstein" too),and the viewers can easily identify with her character.