Death Machine - Monster aus Stahl

When people ask "What are some good straight to video horrors?", Death Machine is usually top of my list. Its a great blend of sci-fi/horror that borrows heavily from others but still emerges as a cool flick nonetheless.

The simplified plot leaves some good guys (and gal) trying to stay alive in a sealed corporate skyscraper, while being hunted by a robot controlled by the fantastically OTT Brad Dourif. There are a few sub-plots to keep things interesting between the characters.

The heroine of the piece is the very cute Ely Pouget, who gives a terrific performance. She is joined by a couple of would-be terrorists - Martin McDougall and John Sharian (who some may recognize from his role in The Machinist).

The plot is good, if a little far-fetched (hey I did say this was sci-fi/horror), and director Stephen Norrington skillfully constructs an effective sense of fear with tongue-in-cheek humor, which belies this being his first time at the helm (he would later go on to direct Blade and the less-than-stellar The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen).

The effects are very good for what must have been a small budget, and the robot (which is reminiscent of a alien/terminator hybrid) is well designed.

There are "strong influences" from movies such as Universal Soldier, Alien and Hardware...and most of the death scenes are quite vicious, though its not really that gory. Also many of the characters are named after horror directors - John Carpenter, Sam Raimi, Scott Ridley etc - not so much as a wink to them but rather a 10 foot neon sign - but it kinda adds to the charm.

Final word goes out to Mr Dourif, who steals every scene he is in. He's funny, creepy, pathetic and totally manic. I have a feeling Norrington just let Dourif go wild in the role.

TTKK's Bottomline - If you like sci-fi/horror mixed with a bit of cheese and some laughs, you can't go wrong with Death Machine

Got a $1 videotape of this at a thrift store because it was a video shop screener, which usually means not viewed much and still in good shape. This was, and it was a nice surprise for a dollar, and it was what "Hardware" should have been.

Without giving away too much of the story, it is about a war weapons development corporation that has a renegade inventor who builds a killer robot called the Warbeast. The renegade inventor, Brad Dourif recreating his Wise Blood character in part, is also insane and eventually the Warbeast is let loose. There's also a neat sequence where the Warbeast battles a human cyborg reminiscent of Alien 2, seems to be intentional. The Warbeast resembles a mechanical Alien, and "Scott Ridley" is a character. Many other characters named from film personalities as well.

A little sluggish at first, but really makes up for that later in the film. Also, probably not enough of the Warbeast slaughtering folks visible for some gore-hounds, but what there is, is well done. Seems like they were about two characters short to really create a good rampage by the Warbeast, but budget constraints notwithstanding, they did a very good job overall.

Watching this little movie after a decade or more , gave me the creeps again , still fresh , original , where the talent and actors' dedication , attention to detail , and the story count , and another proof that young directors must learn their ropes from the scratch ,and not from a 100 - million budget hand-outs , that turn their product into mush and the material to eternally laugh about! The movie is based on the shenanigans of a large weapons manufacturer corporation called Chaank, which has been accused of using children to produce super warriors and their new executive appointee , brilliantly portrayed by a little known E.Pouget with a tiny personal secret, who is determined to find out what exactly ' s been happening in the bowels of the beast , under the leadership of a brilliant young prodigy appropriately named J.Dante , played by B.Douriff ,and you have got to see this character , a sort of post-punk hippie with dreadlocks and an insatiable appetite for porn in all forms, who has secretly devised an ugly gadget ,and then the whole business gets very nasty , when every access and door is hermetically sealed,and the Dante guy sets a few conditions ,the most important being ' to interface ' with his unrequited blond obsession, or else the beast will get you ! If this movie reminds you of some other classics , namely –Hardware , Alien , Carpenter's movies ,you are on the right track , as all the actors even bear the familiar names ,e.g. Scott Ridley , Yutani , Carpenter etc. Briefly , still fresh , amusing , and above all, hardcore , and utterly bleak !

In the near future, the Chaank Corporation is under fire for its creation of unethical weapons and involvement in war crimes. New Chief Executive Hayden Cale (Ely Pouget) has been brought in to fill the vacancy of the old executive and right the ship much to the ire of executives John Carpenter (William Hootkins) and Scott Ridley (Richard Brake). Hayden Cale in the course of her duties seeks to put an end to the development programs of weapons developer Jack Dante (Brad Dourif), a man as psychotic as he is brilliant and keeps himself from being terminated by holding leverage over the other executives. As Dante nurses a growing obsession with Cale, Chaank becomes the target of anti-war/anti-corporate saboteurs Raimi (John Sharian), Yutani (Martin McDougall), and Weyland (Andreas Wisneiwski) who intend to blow -up Chaank's mainframe. After circumstances see Carpenter, Cale, and the saboteurs collide at Chaank's headquarters, Dante unleashes his latest creation, a murderous robot called "Warbeast", after them.

Death Machine is the writing and directing debut of effects artist Stephen Norrington. Norrington had worked on a number of genre films since the 80s (including Aliens and Lifeforce) but had grown tired of effects work and wanted to try his hand at writing. As Norrington continued to dabble in effects work while trying to find financial backing, a producer on the film Split Second for which Norrington was providing the effects had taken an interest in one of his scripts as a possible sequel and also took note of another script Death Machine which was viewed as a commercial enough idea that producers brought on board Norrington as writer and director and secured international financing. While the film was given a relatively quiet direct-to-video release in the United States, it did become something of a springboard for Norrignton that lead to him directing Blade. Death Machine isn't any more or any less than it promises and depending on what you're looking for that might be enough.

At its core, Death Machine is what happens when you mix Die Hard, Robocop (or perhaps more fitting Robocop 2), and Alien together into a trashy genre exercise that doesn't have any loftier aspirations other than setting up kill scenes. While per the cyberpunk 101 playbook it follows the old standards of unethical corporations operating without regard to human life or impact on the world, it's mostly used as window dressing so we can justify the selling point of the killer robot. As per usual, Brad Dourif is delightfully slimy playing the unhinged Jack Dante who's basically what Charles Lee Ray would be like if he had technical expertise. Nobody delivers on crazy like Dourif and you can see why his character (as well as the film's violence) led to several different cuts of this movie. Most of the characterization doesn't go for too much depth save for maybe Ely Pouget's Hayden Cale, but they do what you expect in a movie like this and play it well. The real star of the movie is the titular "warbeast" or Death Machine and structured like if the Cain model from Robocop 2 were mixed with a T-rex it's certainly a memorable killer robot and is used for some fun setpieces. The setpieces are made all the more impressive by the fact the budget was only $3 million and Norrington certainly knows how to stretch it effectively.

Death Machine is the kind of movie where it's very much "what you see is what you get?" and if you're looking for something involving a killer robot on the loose and you've already watched Hardware, this will definitely fit the bill. It's pure bloody pulp, but enjoyable if you're into that sort of thing.

This horror/psycho thriller/sci fi story pits a hard-nosed, naive and ethical businesswoman against the existing power structure at a very large defense contractor, Chaank Industries. What Hayden Cale (Ely Puget) does not know is that, underlying most of what she knows as Chaank Industries, is a murderous maniac - Jack Dante. Dante is played by the remarkable, under-rated, Brad Dourif (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Eyes of Laura Mars, Blue Velvet, Dune, Wild Blue Yonder, Lord of the Rings, etc etc). Dante will do ANYTHING to avoid having his sick little world disturbed... anything. The plot and characters are a string of clichés, but the movie does not take itself very seriously, and what results is a campy, intelligent, self-parody. Direct homages are paid to off-beat directors who frequently use comedy to liven up sci fi and horror stories - There are major supporting characters named Sam Raimi, John Carpenter and Scott Ridley.

Dourif, the deft pacing of the film, and the cleverly written script make this predictable farce thoroughly enjoyable. Richard Brake makes a very good impression in a support role, and lead Puget is charismatic and manages to play her role laudably straight as a counterpoint to Dourif's utterly bizarre behavior.

Death Machine was Stephen Norrington's directorial debut. Norrington has done and continues to do a lot of visual effects and robotics work on major releases which require substantial, cutting edge, effects. He also directed the decent but disappointing League of Extraordinary Gentlement and is now working on a re-make of The Crow.